


Revival

by Cheezey



Series: Third Earth, New Thundera, and Beyond [3]
Category: Thundercats
Genre: Drama, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-29
Updated: 2010-08-29
Packaged: 2017-10-11 08:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 70,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/110265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheezey/pseuds/Cheezey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve years after the Thundercats have found peace, awakenings from the past hint at the destruction of their future. This story builds on the events in my story <i>Evil's Bride</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories - Part One

The midnight hour was upon New Thundera. The Thundercats slept comfortably in their beds inside the Cat's Lair, just as they had most every night for the last decade or so. Twelve years had passed since their battle with Mumm-Ra in the Book of Omens, and the residents of New Thundera enjoyed a mostly peaceful and prosperous life on their rebuilt world. Over the past decade more and more Thunderian refugees had returned to the reformed Thundera, and the city that had formed around the Cat's Lair as its capitol, New Thundera City, was a thriving metropolis.

That was not to say that the Thundercats were not busy all those years. Even without Mumm-Ra or their Mutant and Lunatac foes from Third Earth, there was still the occasional bout of trouble. Their reformed world was not an exact replica of the original, and they had more than one adventure exploring the yet uncharted terrain and interacting with New Thundera's new residents, just as they had in the months prior to their battle with Mumm-Ra. Also, like any diverse population, Thunderians had dissidents and troublemakers amongst their number. Baron Tass was not alone in the Thunderians' elite nobility that survived the destruction of Thundera, and a number of them wished to see more of Old Thundera's cultural norms and societal roles re-established. Then, of course, there were still Mutants, Lunatacs, and alien traders and mercenaries that turned up on the planet to cause trouble. Those from their enemy sister world and its moons' still plagued Thunderians with petty crimes, trade disputes, and open hostilities at times, and that kept the Thundercats' plate full enough.

Still, times were far easier in the years after Mumm-Ra's defeat than before, and it was largely considered an era of prosperity and growth for the Thunderians and Thundercats. The luxury of relative peace allowed the Thundercats to build a truly new Thundera where Thunderian refugees could have a fresh start, and the Thundercats themselves indulged in that freedom as well. On the third anniversary of Mumm-Ra's defeat, Thundercats Bengali and Pumyra wed, and not long after that they announced the impending birth of their first cub. Nearly all of New Thundera City celebrated with them.

Less than a year and a half later, Lord Lion-O made a similar announcement with his engagement to Cheetara. As the first Thundercat Lord in history to take a mate outside his clan—and one who had been amongst his caretakers in his youth at that—the young Lord's announcement made quite an impression and caused an even bigger stir. Still, aside from the gossip of staunch traditionalists, their engagement and subsequent marriage came to be known as just yet another act under Lord Lion-O to demonstrate that New Thundera was a place of new beginnings for all Thunderian people.

_A brave new world indeed,_ _how very touching. _The musings of the undead mage watching the image of the sleeping Cat's Lair in the bubbling waters of his cauldron were as dark and cynical as his ancient soul. Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living was not nearly as gone as he had seemingly been forgotten, and soon he would no longer be the latter, either.

"Enjoy it while you can, Thundercats," he rasped with a malevolent red glow in his eyes that burned bright with hatred, hatred that had grown and festered for the last twelve years. After his defeat in the Book of Omens, Mumm-Ra had thrown his pride aside and pleaded to the Ancient Spirits of Evil to be spared whatever terrible fate awaited him in eternal judgment. After living so long as the ever-living source of evil, he could not bear to imagine what might await him beyond that existence, and he was willing to go to any length and endure any punishment to avoid it. Fortunately for Mumm-Ra, his masters proved merciful, if one could call it that, and at the last moment had spared him, albeit with conditions.

One was that he never defy them again, on pain of being delivered swiftly to that judgment he so feared by their own powers. The other was the equivalent of being told by his evil spirit masters to sit in a corner and think about what he had done, like a parent might do to an unruly toddler. For Mumm-Ra that punishment was served by being earthbound to his pyramid. To leave would mean instantaneously crumbling to dust. The Ancient Spirits of Evil did not tell him how long that "time out" would last, only that he would know when it suited them to release him from it.

That night, Mumm-Ra had felt the faint pulse of his evil powers within his decayed bones once more, and he knew that the time had come when his masters had finally chosen to release him. It was then that he learned of the third condition. It was the one he found perhaps the most galling, as it showed that his masters still did not trust him or have full faith in his competence. They demanded that he summon his slumbering and who-he-wished-he-could-have-left-forgotten once-partner Torlei from her undead sleep to join him. Mumm-Ra regarded their partnership—he refused to think of it as a marriage—with distaste and resignation at best. He had disliked the Lunatac in life, as he did the entire group she had turned up on Third Earth with, and did not find her much improved in the ancients' new incarnation of her. Mumm-Ra only grudgingly admitted that she had shown potential the one time they had teamed up, and while he had been surprised that she survived her seemingly fatal fall into the volcano, as fledgling ever-livings were far less durable than ancient ones like himself, he only took her back into the pyramid to rest out of obligation to their bond before the Ancient Spirits of Evil.

After that defeat his bride had been weak, not unlike his own state for the last twelve years, and Mumm-Ra had recommended that Torlei rest for a decade or three to rebuild her strength. He was pleased that she listened—_a first_, he recalled with a sneer—and gladly played the role of caretaker of her sarcophagus during that time in exchange for the freedom to work alone in the years that followed. Once she was committed to the cold sleep of the dead, he had given her little more than a passing thought. Now, however, times had changed, and with them the time for both of their rest and peace had changed with them.

Raising his withered and bandaged arms over the waters of his cauldron, he began to recite the spell that would awaken his bride and smiled with wicked confidence. His probation was up, and he had been a good little mummy. Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living was free once again.

* * *

"We've entered the airspace, Luna," TugMug's accented voice called out from the console on the ship that carried the six outlaws known as the Lunatacs of Plundarr toward their home moons. Their craft, stolen from a crew whose luck was worse than their own, had seen better days, but it was still good enough to get them around the galaxy and had thus far pulled them out of the scrapes they got themselves into on a regular basis.

Luna watched the image of the Third Moon of Plundarr, or as she knew it in her native tongue, Dasanalith, grow larger in front of her on the monitor. The sight of her home world brought strange feelings to the surface. It had been many years since she had last been there, since they all had been forced to flee or risk an ugly and painful end at the hands of the moons' royal criminal justice system.

But the years had left their mark on both them and the Moons of Plundarr—although perhaps the moons moreso than the Lunatacs themselves. They were still much the same souls they had been when they had made their hasty escape so long ago, aside from being older, a bit wiser, and possessing a healthy hatred for and distrust of black magic mummies, Thundercats, and Thundercat friends such as Mandora and Captain Bragg. _Thank the gods we escaped from that pit of misery,_ Luna thought, grimacing as she remembered their incarceration on Way Out Back. She only hoped that wherever he was, Captain Bragg was suffering ten times more than he had made them endure as a part of his pathetic circus train.

The Moons, on the other hand, had changed far more. For starters, the government that forced their flight was long gone. Old Thundera's cataclysmic destruction had affected neighboring Plundarr and its moons as well. The aftermath of Thundera's explosion had created horrific natural disasters on both the planet Plundarr and its satellites. While what they suffered had not decimated the populations of those worlds as badly as Thundera's, enough chaos had ensued that the societies of each had been thrown into turmoil, upheaval, and uncertainty. The Lunatacs had heard the rumors about what had occurred back on the Moons in their absence, but had chosen not to go near them to see for themselves until now.

The Lunatacs themselves were a bit of a time anomaly given their unique circumstances. When Mumm-Ra encased them in lava on Third Earth, they had effectively been put in a sort of ageless stasis for what they figured amounted to about fifteen standard years. Added to the five they had spent on Third Earth cumulatively before and after their encasement on DarkSide, plus the twelve that encompassed their imprisonment on Way Out Back and years at large afterward, it came to a good thirty or so years that they had been away from their homeland.

Given that, it was an easy assumption that any rulers from their time were aging or infirm, if not dead, and any records that existed of their crimes had likely been destroyed in the disasters on the Moons. Luna had verified that the capitol city where the royalty lived had been struck with violent volcanic activity at the time of Thundera's destruction. That along with the fact that she had not heard anything recent of King Lunaro, her second cousin and much-loathed ruler of the Moons, or his wife in some time, led her to believe it was a safe gamble for them to pay the Moons of Plundarr a visit.

Now, as she watched the landscape come into view on their approach, Luna found herself once again imagining what had changed and how in her once familiar haunts. After all their years on the run, curiosity had gotten the better of them, and despite the Moons' proximity to New Thundera and their enemies the Thundercats, they decided to go back and see their homeland for themselves.

As they neared the ground, Luna recognized a familiar mountainscape in the distance. A lifetime ago it seemed, she had lived in a building that had a magnificent view of that same mountain—her family's estate. Luna had been born into a noble bloodline, an indirect branch of the royal household of the Third Moon. Her particular branch of the family was not a consideration for the throne, but her birthright was enough to command the respect of the commoners. That station had allowed her to rise to the questionable position she once held in the seamier side of Lunatac society, where she might as well have been a queen of her own making rather than the undeserved, at least in her opinion, title her second cousin had inherited. That, and Amok worked wonders in "convincing" anyone that might disagree with her take on things.

The sound of someone stepping up beside her broke Luna out of her thoughts, and she turned to see Alluro looking at the screen.

"It's been so long," he said quietly, sensing her inquisitive gaze upon him. "The last time we were here, my sister was still…" He looked away from the screen. Even after so much time, he had difficulty talking about Torlei, especially in front of Luna. It was rare that he could mention her without slipping into a sour mood.

TugMug bounded over to the control panel to join them. "Hey, I wonder if your girlfriend's still around," he said in a poorly masked attempt to change the subject. It was not so much that TugMug actually cared one way or the other, except that he found Alluro annoying when he was moody. The woman the graviton spoke of, a psi named Lurella, was someone Alluro had been involved with at the time they fled the Moons. The relationship had not been a deep or loving one, at least not from Alluro's perspective. His primary interest in her had been her family's station and bank account, and the fact that she was pretty had been a nice bonus. His ambition had been to have her fall in love with him so he could enjoy the benefits of the finer things in life she had been born with. In truth he had found her to be bubbly and airheaded, but she was easily manipulated and found him attractive, and he certainly had no qualms about using that to get what he wanted.

An unimpressed hiss from Chilla's direction interrupted the conversation before Alluro could say anything. "She must look older than Luna's grandmother if she is." The ice woman did not bother to hide her contempt. She had never particularly liked Lurella back then, and she doubted that anything could have happened that would change her opinion now. Her feelings at present were in part due to the fact that she was used to being the focus of Alluro's flirtatious attention—whether she admitted that she liked that role or not—and partly because even back then, when she certainly would not have cared what Alluro said or did, she viewed Lurella as a spoiled little rich girl that whined too much. She had no patience for that type, especially considering she worked for one.

Of all of the Lunatacs, Chilla looked forward to going home to the Moons the least. Her own memories of the past there overall were not fond ones. She was an only child and had never known her mother, an icewalker drifter that had shacked up with her father and then disappeared after deciding that motherhood and life with her abrasive, ill-tempered father was not for her. Her father had the typical rough outlook on life of an icewalker coupled with a short fuse that led him to bully and beat his daughter whenever she displeased him. Chilla left him and Lixuvekh, the ice moon, for a chance at something better in the capitol of the Third Moon as a teenager. She lived hand to mouth until her fighting prowess landed her a job in Luna's crew. Life on the seedy side of town did not faze Chilla, as it was her only real chance at making something of herself as a nobody and a runaway. Tedious and demanding as Luna was, life working for her was better than it had been with her father. Luna at least paid her well with ill-gotten spoils and free room and board.

As a result, Chilla did not feel any yearnings or nostalgia in returning to the Third Moon. She was merely along for the ride. "Readings indicate we'll land in five minutes," she reported after glancing at the console.

Across the bridge at another console, RedEye looked over toward Luna. "We just received a communication from a place called the MoonTower, which I'm assuming is that large structure by the mountain with the royal crescent moon insignia on the top," he said, pointing to a building visible in the distance on their viewscreen. "An officer identifying himself as reporting directly to the Governor General wants to know why we're landing and what our purpose is. What do we tell him?"

Luna glanced at the screen, and then back at RedEye. "Tell him we're coming home."

* * *

Panthro pushed his newest creation, a sleek and compact space vehicle, to top speed, rushing through the bright afternoon sunshine, climbing higher and higher into the sky. "All right, let's see what this baby can do!" He slid a lever as far upward as it would go. The ship roared out of New Thundera's airspace into the starry universe above. Since he was taking it on its first real flight, he did not plan to take it too far into space. He intended to race around the planet's orbit to get a sense of its maneuverability at different speeds, and then perhaps swing around some of neighboring Plundarr's moons before taking it home. He had been looking forward to the test drive all week, as he anticipated it to be a fast and exciting ride.

A grin spread across his face as he felt the speed pick up and he noted how effortlessly it made a turn plotted into its course. "Nice," he said aloud, even though he was alone. "Now this is what I call a joyriding ship!" Panthro noted that the craft did not burn quite as much Thundrillium as he initially thought, a nice bonus, and since he had the fuel for it he decided to see how it would react to a sudden dip into an atmosphere slightly different than New Thundera's. The ice moon of Plundarr was closest for that test, so he put in the coordinates above a remote area on the world to give it a try. Although the ice moon was an enemy world, only cities on Plundarr and its moons generally shot at foreign crafts deemed threatening on sight. Besides, Panthro had armed his newest creation with defensive capabilities just in case.

"Seems to be responding a little slower," he murmured while checking the latest readings on the gauges. The atmosphere of the ice moon, while still breathable, was still a little lighter than New Thundera's, so he concluded that it must be the effects of the temperature. He had built it to the specifications of the Thundercats' other ships for temperature, but since he had not tested it specifically for it yet, he supposed that now was as good a time as any. He steered the ship lower into the atmosphere, allowing him a view of the landscape below.

The desolate view of snow-covered mountains, the occasional patch of scrubby evergreens, and iced over lakes and oceans surrounded him. _What a wasteland_, the panther thought. _Hard to believe anything can actually live here._ Of course, things could live there, for the ice moon of Plundarr was home to a race of Lunatacs adapted to live in that harsh environment as well as many snow-dwelling beasts and marine life that survived under the ice crust in underground waters. At one time, there had even been a race of Thunderians that would have been able to live in such a climate, the snow leopards of Old Thundera.

They had been a reclusive clan native to Thundera's snowy mountaintops, born with thick white and black spotted coats that protected them from the weather of their homeland, sharp claws and strong limbs adapted for climbing rocks, and keen senses that allowed them to survive and hunt in harsh wilderness. Tolerant of ice and frost, the snow cats could easily traverse ice-slickened surfaces, and their extremities had a natural resistance to frostbite. Because of their harsh natural existence, many were also devoutly spiritual and had a sixth sense that allowed them to communicate with the astral world. Unfortunately, none of the snow leopard clan survived the destruction of Old Thundera. At the time of the Exodus, the snow leopard clan leaders held fast to an old grudge they had against the rest of Thundera's nobility, and they refused to leave their homes at their word. Even years later, no snow leopards had turned up amongst the returned Thunderian refugees, so it was assumed that their leaders' stubbornness led to their unfortunate extinction. Panthro supposed that even if there was a snow leopard around to ask, he or she would probably agree that Plundarr's ice moon was still too nippy for Thunderian tastes, even theirs.

The sound of a loud bang on the side of his ship jolted Panthro abruptly out of his thoughts. Looking over the gauges on the console, he saw with a feeling of alarm that the temperature had become so low outside that it was causing parts of the metal hull to contract and warp. He let out a Thunderian curse and berated himself for overlooking such a dangerous possibility in his excitement to test his new baby. "I'd better get off this frozen chunk of rock fast if I want to get back home in one piece!" he said, and pushed the steering lever forward all the way.

Unfortunately it was too late. More alarm lights flashed on the console and readings dipped to dangerous highs and lows that signaled his impending crash. "Damn it!" He sent an emergency distress call out over the communicator—_that _was still working properly at least—and hoped that his friends on New Thundera would hear it soon. Panthro then braced himself for the inevitable crash as the ship stopped responding entirely and began its plummet downward.

A thick blanket of newly fallen snow cushioned the impact enough so that it was not fatal, and the new, newly-destroyed ship glided a fair distance across an icy plain before coming to a halt amongst a glade of stout evergreens. The stunned Panthro attempted to get his bearings and find his emergency gear, for he knew he would not last long in the bitter cold of the ice moon without it, but he never got the chance. A few moments later a broken branch from one of the trees the ship had slid into came crashing down onto the hull, buckling its side, and knocking the panther unconscious against the console.

* * *

In a mining camp in the same region of the ice moon as Panthro's crash site, a middle-aged icewalker Lunatac named Frostor saw the bright object that was Panthro's falling ship streak across the sky. Frostor, who held the title of Governor General of the Moons of Plundarr and despite being a Lixuvekh native, actually resided back on the Third Moon with the rest of the ruling government officials, was on his home moon on official business. He and his colleagues had received promising data from the miners indicating that there could be a large untapped vein of fuel ready to be mined with just a few adjustments to their operation. He had been on his way back to the supervisor's tent with his companion, a thirty-something aged psi wrapped in every form of cold gear imaginable, when he saw the unusual flash.

"What in the name of the Moons was that?" Frostor asked, thinking that it did not look like a typical falling star or meteor.

"Beats me," his companion, named Psiarik, replied. Although they were unaware of the comparison, the psi bore more than a slight resemblance to Alluro. They shared the same build, had similar facial features, and even the same hair color and pattern baldness. The most notable difference aside from their age was that Psiarik still had more of his hair, both on his head and on his face in the form of a goatee that accented his brooding expression. He shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him in a futile attempt to feel warmer. "Probably just some cosmic litter from Plundarr. The Mutants are always throwing their junk in the Moons' airspace."

"Just because it's always snowing here to cover it up doesn't mean that it should be a junkyard," Frostor grumbled with a shake of his head. "If we have a thaw and I find too much Plundarrian debris here, I'll personally charter the barge to dump it right over their capitol."

Psiarik let out a dubious snort and dug his chilled fingers deeper into his sleeves. "Thaw. Hah. That's going to happen."

"Not used to our 'spring weather' are you?" Frostor replied with an amused smile. "You know, this is kind of warm for this season. Winter's still two months off yet. You should wait for a _real_ cold spell to have something to complain about."

"Thanks, I'll pass," Psiarik retorted. "Give me the comforts of home anytime."

"'Home'? You've never even been on Mirindet for more than a week," Frostor countered, naming the small Fourth Moon that was home to the psi race. Like him, Psiarik lived on the Third Moon and he had even been born there.

Frowning, the psi answered, "I meant the MoonTower." He sighed, visualizing the posh, and more importantly, warm royal quarters he had lived in ever since they had been built for the now ruling queen and her younger brother. He, Frostor, them, and several others that now ran the Moons in their post-disasters world were amongst the survivors of the capitol city. Psiarik himself had been but a teenager at the time and had been raised from then, as the royal children Selene and Silvian and a number of others, viewing the crusty ice general Frostor as a surrogate father of sorts. A reluctant smile tugged at the corners of the psi's mouth as he thought of home and its comforts, including his wife. Selene, now crowned Queen, and he were married, which technically made him the king by marriage, an act which surely would have made her parents spin circles in their tombs as lunar royalty was supposed to marry only other lunar royalty or nobility. But adverse circumstances made for strange bedfellows, and much like it was on New Thundera, the survivors on the Plundarrian Moons had their own views of what rules were important and which ones were not in a world struggling to survive.

"Well, you're going to have to get used to traveling to the other moons more often than you're used to. Silvian and Selene can't do it all themselves and being married to the queen, you should play the part of acting like a king." Frostor slipped into the lecturing tone he often used on his "children" like Psiarik.

"If I'm a king, why do I have to put up with your dumb ideas?" Psiarik rubbed frost crystals out of his goatee. "And for the record, I never complained about trips to Tukabir," he argued, naming the gravitons' native moon by its local moniker.

Frostor chortled. "Who does? If there's one thing gravitons do better than anyone else, it's host a feast fit for royalty. Now quit griping. You know as well as I do that we need all the fuel reserves we can get, and if this pans out, it'll solve a lot of problems."

"Yeah, I know," Psiarik agreed. "Though if Vultureman could design something that didn't burn a bucket of Thundrillium each time it ran, maybe we wouldn't need to keep such a stock on hand."

That time it was Frostor's turn to chortle. "To paraphrase you, 'Vultureman. Design and run something cheaply and without unforeseen collateral damage. Hah. That's going to happen.'" The presence of Vultureman in the royal employ of the Lunatac government was another odd turn of fate that the past twelve years had seen. The avian Mutant had been separated from his peers after his escape from Way Out Back on the stolen bookmobile ship, but Mandora had not allowed him to go free after the Zaxx debacle. Rather than return him to Bragg, however, she had remanded him directly into CONTROL custody, and the Mutant had served his sentence on the grey penal planet. Unlike his former Mutant associates, Vultureman saw the wisdom in working with the system to behave well enough to earn privileges and a low security tech assignment during his incarceration, which he later used to escape. From there had been able to barter his technological skills to fix a mercenary ship to gain passage to the system that held Plundarr, its moons, and New Thundera. That landed him on the Third Moon of Plundarr in a spaceport, and since Vultureman was used to Lunatacs to an extent from his dealings with Luna and her crew on Third Earth, there he was able to carve a niche for himself amongst the disaster survivors in the capitol area. Eventually word of his presence reached Frostor, who had been a historian before the disasters and knew the Mutant's reputation, and the icewalker offered to hire him. Frostor had no particular love for Mutants, but he also saw the value in having someone that could design weaponry and defense systems of the caliber Vultureman had in the past on their team.

A Lunatac mine worker approached Frostor and Psiarik, and addressed the icewalker. "Governor General, we've found something I think you ought to take a look at."

"Not problems with the ore or equipment I hope?"

"No, that's all fine," he assured him. "We've found something else, something that looks important. Let me show you."

"All right, let's go." Frostor motioned for Psiarik to follow, and they made their way into a different tent nearby. Inside were the supervisor and two more workers, gathered around a table that had an ornately carved sword upon it. The weapon was beautifully crafted and clearly antique. Its hilt was made of gleaming silvery metal with a bulb at the very bottom in which a crescent-shaped moonstone jewel was embedded. The blade itself was forged from a translucent material that seemed almost luminous in the tent's artificial lighting, framed at the base by an artfully designed metal crescent moon that matched the shape of the moonstone on the handle.

Frostor stopped short, eyes wide, when he saw the weapon. "By the gods…"

"Nice sword," Psiarik remarked, giving it only a cursory glance as he made his way to the hot beverage dispenser in the corner.

When he recovered from his initial shock, Frostor immediately went to the table and picked the sword up, running his fingers over the blade in an almost reverent manner. "It couldn't be… but I think it is," he murmured as he examined it.

"What is it, Sir Frostor?" one of the workers asked.

Ignoring the question, Frostor faced the supervisor. "Where did you find this?"

"They found it in the rubble near the floor in one of the new tunnels," he answered. "They didn't know what it was at first, it was in a block of this odd, freezing blue ice."

Psiarik looked up from his coffee with a raised brow. "Is it that odd for ice to be frozen?"

"It is when it's colder to the touch than regular ice, highness," the gruff icewalker answered the sarcastic psi, adjusting his mining hat as he did so. "Strange stuff, this blue ice. Must be some underground chemical reaction, maybe to the metal or the gems in that thing. Anyway, we saw something was embedded in it so we broke it out and that's what we found. We thought it might be a relic, or at least something valuable. Don't know how it might've gotten there, since this area's been unsettled for a long time, but you never know when you might stumble on an old primitive burial ground."

Frostor turned the blade over in his hands, and then eyed the moonstone gem more closely. "If this is what I think it is, it's not part of a tomb. At least not for anyone but the dead Thundercat that tried to steal it." He held it up to the light and noted how the beams diffused through the translucent blade. "This was thought lost forever…"

"Dead Thundercat? What is it?" Psiarik asked, joining Frostor's side. "It just looks like some ancient warrior sword to me."

"Technically it is, if you want to trivialize it that way," Frostor responded with a mildly snappish tone before he went on to give an explanation. "If I'm right—and I think it's very possible that I am—this is the MoonSaber."

Surprised looks filled the faces of the mine workers, and one even gasped, while Psiarik simply looked on blankly. "The MoonSaber—the legendary sword of Luran the Conqueror, founder of the Unified Kingdom of the Moons?"

A vague look of recognition crossed Psiarik's features. "Luran the Conqueror, yeah, I remember reading about him in school way back." _Back when the Moons still had real schools, before Thundera blew them and the rest of our civilization back to just better than Mutant levels._

"And you don't recall the MoonSaber as part of that?"

Psiarik shrugged. "Not specifically. History's your favorite pastime, not mine."

"Well then, the short version is that the MoonSaber is the sword forged for our people, according to legend given to Luran himself by one of the gods in mortal form to use to unite the moons and end the civil wars among the Lunatac people in ancient times. It was supposed to be used to unite and protect our people, and is one of the three known swords of its level of power in the system—the other two being Plundarr's Sword of Plundarr and Thundera's Sword of Omens. Countless wars were fought for and with these swords."

"Then why was it in a mine shaft, Sir?" one of the workers, a man a few years younger than Psiarik, asked.

The mine supervisor turned toward his subordinate. "If I remember the accounts right, some Thundercat on a stealth mission tried to steal it from the Third Moon claiming that we were going to use it to destroy Thundera. They probably sent one to Plundarr too, damn nosy felines. One of King Mallar's—Queen Selene and Prince Silvian's grandfather—advisors, one of our finest, an ice-mooner named Chillandra, chased the bitch down and cornered her right here on our moon. She took her out and took the sword and hid it on Mallar's order so that it stayed out of sight until needed. Chillandra herself then went into hiding so that nobody could interrogate her. No one knows exactly what became of her, as she assumed a new name and pretty much just disappeared. Some rumors said she even went so far as to marry and have a family to hide herself. Supposedly King Mallar knew what happened to her after that, but he took the secret to his grave and never brought the MoonSaber out of hiding." He looked to Frostor. "Did I miss anything?"

"That about covers it," Frostor confirmed with a nod. "King Mallar's aim was to keep the MoonSaber out of enemy hands unless it was absolutely needed. We'd made a lot of technological advancements in that era and he thought it was best to rely on that to keep our enemies at bay and the Moons safe. His reasoning was that if the prophecies of old were true, as long as the MoonSaber existed safely in our hands, the Moons would be protected from destruction. Part of the legend surrounding the MoonSaber and the other swords from Plundarr and Thundera involves an invocation that could be used with all three of them to wreak inconceivable devastation on all the worlds. He was superstitious enough to buy into that, especially after the Thundercats' attempt to steal it, so he hid it to keep the Moons safe."

Psiarik frowned. "Well his plan sucked. The Moons are a wasteland compared to what they were thanks to Thundera's explosion and the disasters." Though the disasters had affected all of the survivors, Psiarik was particularly bitter about them. Harboring years of survival guilt for living due to a quirk of fate when his mother, sister, and stepfather had not even though if it had happened only minutes sooner he would have been with them, had left deep marks on his psyche.

"You don't understand the importance of this, Psiarik," Frostor said, meeting the younger Lunatac's eyes with urgency. "We need to get this back to the MoonTower at once. The MoonSaber is too important to have laying around where anyone can walk in and take it."

"We can keep security on it, Governor General," the supervisor offered.

"Thank you, but that's not enough. If word got out… well let's just say that while I'm not as paranoid as the late King Mallar, I know enough of the history and legend to know that it would be ill-advised to leave this out of royal custody for any length of time."

Picking up on the anxious note in Frostor's tone, Psiarik gave a slight nod of assent, but could not resist making a smart remark nonetheless. "Has Silvian ever even fought with a sword before?"

"He did some fencing and sparring."

"Oh, that makes me feel real secure," he said with a snort, and refilled his mug.

Not nearly as amused by Psiarik's sarcasm as the psi himself was, Frostor frowned again. "The prince of the Moons is the ideal candidate for holding the MoonSaber. Though if you lack faith in him, Queen Selene could also wield it."

At that Psiarik was unable to hold back a genuine laugh. "I don't think Selene's ever even _held_ a sword."

"Her highness has guardsmen to do that sort of thing for her," the mine supervisor interjected with a wry smile.

"Indeed," Frostor agreed. "And before you dismiss the significance of documented history as well as legend, realize that if the Thunderians didn't also believe in the power these swords have, they wouldn't have sent one of their Thundercats to the Moons to steal it. The prophecy is well known and translated into many languages; I'd be surprised if their Book of Omens didn't have a mention of it somewhere."

"Prophecy?" Psiarik asked.

"What I told you about earlier, the prophecy King Mallar feared—that if the MoonSaber was used along with the Sword of Omens and the Sword of Plundarr and a certain incantation was used, vast destruction would be visited upon all the worlds and the victor would claim what remained. Conversely, if the three fought united and a certain incantation was recited, the worlds could be united forever in peace. Well, I don't need to tell you about the chances of _that_, then or now, so it's prudent to be concerned about the destructive powers in the prophecy." Frostor paused for a thoughtful moment. "Interesting if you think about it, considering after the MoonSaber was hidden, the wars between all three factions became more and more vicious. Ratilla the Mutant used the Sword of Plundarr against acting Lord Jaga of Thundera with the Sword of Omens there on Thundera. Jaga was the one who took the Sword of Plundarr from Ratilla and threw it into a volcano, and look what its revenge was—obliteration of the old Thundera."

Psiarik set his drink down and folded his arms. "And Thundera's explosion messed up both Plundarr and our Moons. We weren't even involved and we got the shaft. Nice."

"I wonder if the devastation wasn't quite so complete because the MoonSaber wasn't present and the ancient incantations weren't used," Frostor theorized.

"It was complete enough," Psiarik said, and one of the mine workers nodded in agreement with him. "And while this makes for a nice story, and I'm sure it's a real artifact, I still find it hard to imagine that something like this can destroy a planet." He cast his gaze toward the sword in Frostor's hands.

"You could've found it in any number of history books if we still had all our libraries," Frostor informed him matter-of-factly. "And if there's even a chance that the legends pertaining to the MoonSaber are true, don't you think we should get this into Silvian and Selene's possession as soon as possible?" He did not wait for Psiarik to answer and extended the sword handle-first to him. "And being that you're the queen's husband, it's most appropriate for you to carry it."

Giving a shrug of resignation, Psiarik accepted the MoonSaber and nodded to the ice general. "Whatever you say, Frostor." As held it in his hands, Psiarik did have to admit that he could sense a faint pulse of power within the sword, and he could swear that the blade glowed the slightest bit. A hint of wonder filled his usually cynical eyes. "Amazing."

"I told you," Frostor said triumphantly. "Now let's get home."

* * *

Back on New Thundera, it was Cheetara that received Panthro's distress signal while she was on watch duty. Immediately she sounded an alarm, the Thundercats available in the Lair were in the control room to find out what happened in a flash.

"Cheetara, what is it?" asked Tygra. The tiger's station on Third Earth at the time Mumm-Ra had been defeated had not been permanent. After an adjustment period, the Thundercats decided to rotate the duties of keeping watch on Third Earth in six-week shifts spaced three weeks apart per station. A Thundercat presence was maintained in Third Earth's Cat's Lair and the Tower of Omens at all times, but a different Thundercat was arriving or leaving every few weeks. Currently it was WilyKat and Lynx-O who were stationed at the Third Earth bases.

"Panthro's ship crashed," the cheetah informed them gravely. "From what information I was able to get from his location and the brief distress signal that came through, he took that new craft he's been working on out for a test run by the ice moon of Plundarr. He crashed there."

"Guess it failed that test," WilyKit joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. The once-Thunderkitten was now a grown woman, although she still had her fiery red and black mane styled to a dramatic point and the same impish smile and gleam in her eyes that she had as a child. That smile was not on her face now, however, given her concern for Panthro, and she fingered the explosive pellets—which now packed a serious punch as well as a few tricks—in the pouch on her belt.

"We have to get a rescue party together right away," Cheetara asserted. "I can't reach him and I don't know if it's because the communications are busted or because he's hurt and can't answer. I also have no idea what sort of cold gear he had in that thing—I hope to Jaga he has _something_."

Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens from his claw shield. "Panthro's usually pretty good about preparing for contingencies, but I agree that we need a rescue party to go right away. Do you think we should all go?" he asked, looking over the faces of the Thundercats present—Tygra, Bengali, WilyKit, and Cheetara.

"The more of us there are to search, the better. Pumyra and Snarfer were calibrating some equipment and told me to get them if they were needed, but I think they can handle watch duty. Or maybe they can send Snarf up here to keep an eye on things," Bengali suggested. "I'd like to go. The cold doesn't faze me, and my hammer works pretty well on ice."

"Cheetara, perhaps you and Tygra should stay and keep on top of the communications while the rest of us go. Snarf must have his hands full with the cubs and if Pumyra and Snarfer are already in the middle of something it's probably best to leave them to it for now," Lion-O said.

The cheetah nodded. "All right. Be careful, all of you, and keep me posted."

"You betcha. I'll go get the cat suits," WilyKit volunteered.

"I'll go and let Pumyra and Snarfer know what's going on," Tygra said.

"And I'll go fire up the Feliner," Bengali finished. The three Thundercats wasted no time in heading out to see to their tasks, leaving Lion-O and Cheetara alone briefly. She approached him and set her hand on his claw shield.

"Keep the Sword of Omens close, Lion-O," she said in soft and low tone filled with both concern for her lord and leader and affection for her mate. "I don't want to alarm the others, but my sixth sense has me on edge. I answered Panthro's distress signal a second before it even came in. But it's not just Panthro. I feel like—like something else is going on. Something big is brewing. But I can't sense what."

"Panthro is all right," Lion-O reassured her. "I just know I'd know, and the sword would know, if he wasn't."

Cheetara nodded uncertainly. She felt the same sense that Panthro would be fine, but could not shake her feeling of unease regardless, and seeing Lion-O—her mate and the father of their young cub Cheetaro, nicknamed Chet, who had been born just shy of two years prior—head off into the unknown did not settle her concerns in the least. "Be careful."

Lion-O leaned over and kissed her forehead, touched by the concern. "Don't worry. You know I will. I promise." He then offered her a smile of reassurance and hurried out to join Bengali and WilyKit on the Feliner.

* * *

When Panthro regained consciousness he found himself inside an icy cavern. A small bonfire burned nearby, and he noticed that his surroundings were not as intensely cold as he knew it must be outside. Wondering who had rescued him, especially considering he was a Thundercat in Lunatac territory, he looked around and realized that he was not inside a cavern at all, but in some type of igloo-like structure. That made him even more curious, and he drew himself closer to the fire and pulled the blanket his benefactor had given him more tightly around him. "How in blazes did I get here?" he wondered aloud. "I know I crashed, but someone must've brought me here. Who?"

A soft feminine voice to his left answered him. "I saved you, panther Thundercat."

Surprised, as he would have sworn he was alone, Panthro turned his head in the direction of the voice and saw a lovely Thunderian woman standing just in front of an archway that presumably led out of the chamber. His feline savior was unusual and striking in appearance, with snow-white fur decorated with coal black spots. Her mane was colored the opposite, silken black fur dotted with white spots. Her eyes were a cat's lambent green, and around her shoulders she wore a long black cloak fastened with a Thundercat insignia.

"Who are you?" the astonished Panthro asked. "You're a Thundercat?"

She nodded. "I was, once upon a time, but I've lived here alone for a long time now. My name is Snoelle. I saw your ship crash and found you when I checked for survivors." With a walk so graceful it almost seemed like she did not touch the ice-packed floor, she approached Panthro and crouched beside him. "How do you feel, my lost panther?" Her voice was so soft it was almost like a gentle whisper, and her caress so delicate that when she touched his cheek, he could not even really feel her touch, only a pleasing sensation of warmth.

_I must have been out in the cold for a long time to be by a fire and still be this numb_, he realized grimly. _I'm lucky to still be alive._ Panthro cleared his throat faced his benefactor, finding himself almost rapt as he looked into her eyes. "I—I feel all right I guess. Thanks for saving me," he stammered, still shaken by his circumstances and a rising desire to know more about the woman and feel her warmth again.

Snoelle smiled back at him. "So who are you, panther Thundercat? What brings you to this cold place?"

"My name is Panthro, and my ship brought me here, though it was just supposed to be a visit and not a stay," he said, somewhat bemused as he thought about his newest creation and its wrecked state. "I'm one of the Thundercats serving under Lord Lion-O. I thought we were the only Thundercats left. Have you been stuck here? Do you know about New Thundera?"

Snoelle seemed less interested in the mention of New Thundera or Panthro's crash than she did at the mention of his lord's name. "Lion-O," she repeated, lapsing into thoughtful pause before saying, "I'm not familiar with that name. The Lord of my time as a Thundercat was Katan."

Panthro stared back her in complete shock. "Katan? But he was Claudus' father!"

"Indeed, he had a boy by that name," Snoelle said with a nod.

"Boy?" Panthro said, his mind reeling to reconcile the inconsistencies with what his savior said with what he knew. "Claudus isn't a boy. He's—he's gone. His time as Lord of the Thundercats is past. Lion-O is Claudus' son." He stared at her, seeing a face far too young to belong to someone that claimed to be from the era she spoke of as the present. "How could you have possibly served under Katan? You don't look any older than Cheetara, much less Jaga or Claudus."

"My age is unimportant," Snoelle said, brushing aside his questions as deftly as she brushed warmth onto his skin when her fingers smoothed over his shoulder, which he noticed were now aching from the crash the more he warmed up by the fireside. Snoelle drew herself to a standing position once more and smiled down at him. "Just concern yourself with rest and healing. You need it. Don't worry, your friends are on their way looking for you. I'll make sure they find you. Rest now, Panthro. Conserve your strength." She placed her hand upon the top of his head and stroked it in a manner meant to show comfort, and once again Panthro felt that pleasing sensation of warmth without touch.

"Sleep now," she whispered as they parted, and Panthro felt his eyelids droop. Stretching back out on the floor as the urge to rest grew, it was not long before he settled fully into the welcoming embrace of sleep. He dreamed of his savior the entire time.


	2. Memories - Part Two

After an uneventful landing, the door of the Lunatacs' ship slid open, and the six renegades stepped onto the soil of the Third Moon of Plundarr for the first time in over thirty years. The sun shone brightly in the sky above, a sky that was colored in a pale purple hue unlike Third Earth's blue sky. "I'd almost forgotten what it looked like…" Luna mused as she took in the sight with much older and more tired eyes than had last looked upon it.

Their greeting party was a regal looking white-haired young lunar man, no older than twenty standard years at a guess, and his companion of a decorated brute beast. The lunar was well-defined in physique and on the tall side for his race, which was still rather short by most standards even if he did have a good foot of height on Luna, who had been afflicted since birth with unusually petite stature. As he approached, the brute remained a few steps behind him. "Welcome to the capitol, fellow Lunar-Plundarrians. I'm Prince Silvian," he greeted them in a warm and amiable tone. "How long have you been away from the Moons?"

Ignoring his question and her manners, Luna eyed the man in dubious surprise. "You're the prince?"

"Since I was born," he quipped in response, seemingly unfazed by her less than proper greeting for him. He had not decided whether to be offended by her or not, so he chose to wait for her response before deciding.

Luna eyed him with a curious and evaluating look as she attempted to discern which branch of the royal family he hailed from. Being an indirect descendant of the royal line herself, she was certain she would know who he was a relation to once he gave a name or two. "What happened to King Lunaro and Queen Sileira?" she asked, giving the names of the rulers that had been in power when she had last been on the Moons.

Chalking her earlier rudeness up to culture shock given how long he guessed she must have been away given that she named the rulers that had perished in the Thundera explosion disasters, Silvian relaxed and smiled. "You _have_ been away for a while. They were my parents, but they died years ago when the old capitol was destroyed."

"I see." Luna nodded, suddenly feeling quite old. Back in her time, Lunaro and Sileira had no children. "And you're not the king, but the prince?" she questioned, curious as to who held the ruling title given that the Moons were never without an acting king or queen. Someone was always crowned with one of the titles, even if underage.

"My older sister Selene is the queen," Silvian explained to Luna. "She and I were the only surviving heirs in the royal family after the disasters, aside from one or two of my cousins out in more remote territory, and their claim to the throne is nothing compared to ours." He gestured for Luna and her companions to follow him into the building called the MoonTower. "Back when it all started—"

"You mean when Thundera blew up," RedEye interjected.

"Yes, then," Silvian went on, politely ignoring the fact that he had been interrupted, "during the first wave of the destruction, that mountain over there, where the royal palace used to sit at the foot of, became an active volcano and blew half the city apart. What still stood of the palace was then covered in lava. Nobody in the area survived."

"Damn," TugMug said quietly, shaking his head. He remembered the Third Moon's capitol city in its full glory, and he found it strange to think of it all brought to a halt in one deadly flash.

"According to our best census estimates, only four percent of the population survived the first six months after the disasters. And that's all over the Moons, not just here on Dasanalith. Of course, we've grown since then. Some Lunatacs lucky enough to live off-world, like you, have come home since then, and a lot of babies have been born. Now that food supplies are stable and most of our settlements are secure, official policy is to discourage birth control so our population rises again. I'm sure the Plundarr Mutants and felines of Thundera are breeding litter upon litter on litter, especially the cats with that new world of theirs. We don't want to be overrun when they grow up and start looking past their own borders."

Alluro grimaced. "Overrun with Thunderians and Mutants, now there's a nauseating thought."

Silvian nodded as they walked through an archway and continued down a hallway. "Frostor—our Governor General—put a lot of good policies like that into place. He's our unofficial leader, and I don't know where Selene and I would be without his input. He's the one who oversaw and organized all the survivors in the capitol when everything happened. Selene and I were just children then, but even now we figure he might as well keep the well-oiled machine running. If it isn't broken, don't fix it, like the saying goes—of course they probably don't have a Mutant tinkerer in their basement like we do though." The prince chortled knowingly. "And like I said before, Selene and I are all that's left of the royal family for the most part. Even our court and support staff was pretty much wiped out when the mountaintop blew." His voice took on a wistful tone. "My sister and I happened to be out in the orchards on the other side of the city for an outing. Our governess thought we could use a break from schooling and time to play outside away from the palace. If we hadn't been there, we'd have been coated in lava with everyone else there." Silvian turned and met the eyes of his guests. "Can you imagine? Being buried alive in lava?"

Much to Silvian's surprise, RedEye had an answer to his rhetorical question. "Better than you think," the darkling muttered.

Luna cast RedEye a sharp look before speaking up again. "The old palace completely destroyed. I never would've imagined it. It had been there for centuries. Some of the original structure supposedly dated to the era of Luran the Conqueror."

"Yeah, but even so, it's long gone now. Now it's just a tomb. None of us could ever build on those grounds again." Eager for a change of subject from that depressing topic, Silvian turned toward his guests as they entered a grand chamber that served as a room to meet and host visitors. "So I take it the group of you left the Moons shortly before the disasters of Thundera's explosion?"

"No, longer than that," Chilla, who had remained a silent observer until that point, spoke up.

Silvian faced the icewalker, only then taking full notice of her appearance. "Pardon me, but have we ever met before, maybe in passing? You look very familiar."

"Not likely," she rasped in response to the prince. "We were gone for a good three decades. Longer than you've even been around, I'm sure."

"Oh," the puzzled Silvian answered, still trying to piece together why the ice woman seemed like someone he ought to know. "So you must've been a young child when you left the Moons?"

Chilla let out a frosty laugh as the reality of her own time shift due to their entrapment by Mumm-Ra on Third Earth hit home. "No, I was almost twenty."

"What?" Silvian blinked with surprise, and then smirked at her. "No, you're kidding me. I know you can't be _that_ old," he said, noting Chilla's attractive face and figure of a woman in her prime.

She was flattered by his remark, but did not take the flirtation in it the least bit seriously. "We didn't age normally. We were in a kind of—suspension—for about fifteen years. We look younger than we are if you go by when we were born."

"Incredible! You must have some great stories to tell," Silvian said enthusiastically. "We don't get all that many interesting guests around here, unless you count the traders, but who can believe half of what they say when they're trying to sell you something?" He motioned for them to sit and get comfortable, and for a servant to get them refreshments. "Most of the time our visitors are representatives from the other moons, and they can be dreadfully dull when they start droning on and on."

"We know all about leaders that drone on and on," TugMug quipped, much to the merriment of his cohorts that were not Luna.

Fortunately for TugMug, Silvian did not catch on to the barb and answered before Luna could put her two cents in. "Well, even they're better than meetings with Mutants. We had a couple border disputes not long ago that took forever to resolve."

Alluro sniffled with condescension. "Mutants. My condolences."

"Tell me about it," Silvian said smoothly, taking a sip of the drink of he had just been handed. "Our resident scientific adviser is actually an avian from Plundarr, and he has some, hmm, how shall I put it—unsavory—acquaintances? Oh I'll be blunt, they're a bunch of rowdy losers. Vultureman himself has his moments too, but he _is_ a genius, and worth keeping around."

The Lunatacs stiffened and exchanged looks at the mention of Vultureman's name. "Vultureman works for the Moons' government?" Alluro asked.

Silvian's brow rose. "Oh, do you know him?" The prince then did a double-take of the hypnotist, that time noticing a familiarity in him, although unlike with Chilla, he was able to place that one immediately. "Say, do you have any family from this area?"

The inquiry led Alluro to think of Torlei, and his expression darkened. "No. Not anymore."

"Oh," Silvian said, and shrugged. "I wondered because you look quite a bit like someone I know. Are you sure you don't have any relations that might've moved here while you were away?"

"I said I didn't," the psi insisted, frowning. What was it with Luna's type that was never satisfied with a simple answer of "no" anyway, Alluro wondered.

"Heh, okay." Silvian shrugged the matter off, but Luna was not content to let it drop, as her curiosity had been roused.

"Who does he remind you of, Prince Silvian?"

"My brother-in-law."

Luna blinked in surprise at the revelation that the prince had a psi brother-in-law. Marriages of lunar royalty outside of the noble bloodline were rare, and cross-race unions were unheard of amongst the high rank and file of the Moons. She wondered if it was the prince who had married a psi woman, or if it was his sister that had taken a psi man for a husband. _Times certainly have changed,_ Luna mused. She could only imagine how the departed King Lunaro and Queen Sileira would have taken such an event. In a cruel way the thought of their astral disgust amused her.

The conversation was interrupted when a slight lunar woman with smoothly-styled wavy purple hair entered the room. It was clear that she was a relation to Silvian, and Luna could see traces of the Moons' former rulers in her features as well. Her style of dress and bearing were typical of Third Moon royalty, and if one looked closely, they would not be surprised to learn that she was also a relation to Luna. Her eyes did not have the same jaded cynicism and viciousness that Luna's did, however, even if they were similarly shaped and colored.

"So, are these our guests?" she asked Silvian as she joined his side. She was almost the same height as he, and it was an easy guess that she was the sister he had mentioned, Queen Selene, current ruler of the Moons.

The prince nodded. "This is my sister, Queen Selene," he introduced her, and then gestured to the Lunatacs. "Selene, these are…" His voice trailed off as he realized only then that he had not bothered to ask their names. "Er, I actually didn't get your names, did I?" He grimaced. "Sorry. Protocol isn't my strong suit. I blame it on the fact that my governess died along with everyone else in the palace when I was eight."

The queen's eyes went wide. "Silvian!" she berated her brother, shaking her head at the second, and far worse, infraction of manners.

"Well it's true," he grumbled. "Sorry. I've been told I have a big mouth sometimes."

When none of the Lunatacs said anything, wisely figuring that agreeing the prince was rude might put them off on the wrong foot with the royalty they found themselves in the company of, Selene took it as her cue to take over. "My little brother does have the manners of a Mutant at times, but we love him anyway," she said with a light laugh. "Please, take this opportunity to introduce yourselves. Who are you, and what brings you to the capitol area?" She paused and added after noticing the same familiarities amongst her guests that her brother had, "are any of you from around here?" Her gaze fell on Alluro. "You look so much like my husband it's incredible. Do you have family nearby?"

Alluro sighed audibly, not wanting to repeat himself after just having the same conversation with Prince Silvian. "No. But he did mention I resembled his brother-in-law."

"Indeed you do," Selene said with a smile. "And you, your name is…" She looked at Chilla.

"Chilla," the icewalker responded succinctly.

"Chilla," Selene repeated, "a pleasure. If you don't mind me saying so, you look just like this old painting that used to hang in the halls of the palace of a renowned court ice mage from a few generations back."

Taken aback, Chilla responded, "Really?"

"That's it!" Silvian exclaimed. "I knew you looked familiar! You do look a lot like that old portrait of Chillandra. Except without the braid. Thank you, that was driving me nuts."

"Speaking of paintings," Selene said, continuing her brother's tangent and turning towards Luna, "you remind me of another one from the palace. Please don't take offense, though, I mean it only in comparison, but there was a life-size portrait of Queen Luna that you're the spitting image of. Not that you're any kind of tyrant like her, I'm sure," she finished with a diplomatic wave.

Silvian took another drink, oblivious to the Lunatacs' growing unease at the mention of Luna's grandmother. "You're right! She does look like old Queen Luna—old in that she was six generations ago, not old as in decrepit, I know how you ladies can be about your age." Silvian winked in her direction. "She was the one that was exiled to Third Earth in a coup, only to be magically blasted back by a mummy called Mumm-Rana, right?"

"I think that was how the story went," Selene said with a nod.

"One of the more interesting ones our governess drilled into us about family history. Apparently she also had a granddaughter that was run off the Moons for leading a ring of organized crime," he said with a chuckle.

While discussing the black sheep of the royal family apparently amused Silvian and his sister, the newly arrived Lunatacs found it unsettling, and began to exchange nervous looks. A moment later two other Lunatacs, an icewalker and a psi that must have been the Alluro look-alike that Silvian and Selene had mentioned, walked in. The psi man held what looked like a ceremonial sword in his hands, although he did not carry it in a manner that implied any reverence or intent to use it as a weapon. "What's so funny?" he asked as he joined the royal siblings.

"Nothing really," Selene said, and then offered her guests a contrite look. "Oh, now I'm the one being rude to our guests. My apologies." She nodded to them and the Lunatacs, choosing to remain quiet until directly addressed, nodded back. Selene then turned to the psi. "We were just talking about how our new friend there reminded us of the portrait of Queen Luna in the old palace."

The icewalker, a gruff-looking man in his fifties wearing a uniform of high rank, let out a frosty chortle. "Ah, a name from my pre-disaster days of being a historian. I wrote my thesis on Queen Luna's granddaughter, who was also named Luna," he said glancing at Luna as if to verify the resemblance to the historical figure. "Queen Luna was a piece of work, and her granddaughter did her legacy proud. What a hard-hearted bitch she was, let me tell you." He shook his head. "Her gang was an unruly bunch of societal degenerates too. Fascinating, but I'm not sure I'd have wanted to meet them unarmed in a dark alley, especially in the part of town they operated."

Unable to hold her tongue any longer at the personal insult, unintended as it was, Luna snapped at the ice man. "Watch it!"

Alluro stepped as close as he could get to Luna without stepping on Amok. "Cool it, Luna," he warned in a tone low enough for only her to hear.

However, Luna was never one be told what to do, especially when it was her pride on the line. Ignoring Alluro, she prodded Amok to approach the icewalker. "Just who do you think you are?"

"Governor General Frostor of the Moons, since you ask," he replied, regarding the lunar woman's sudden surliness with surprise. "I meant no offense, madam. History is what it is, but I was talking about Luna, not you."

"Well, meant or not, offense was taken!" Luna seethed, glowering back at him, while RedEye approached her from behind on the opposite side of where Alluro stood.

"Luna, I really don't think..."

Luna blatantly ignored RedEye and pointed the tip of her riding crop in Frostor's direction. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Actually, no, I don't," he responded coolly, and turned to the queen. "Selene, who is she?"

Before Selene could admit that neither she nor her brother had managed to get all of Luna and her friends' names yet, Luna boldly answered for her, much to the chagrin of her companions. "A certain 'hard-hearted bitch' that you wrote a thesis on!" she shrieked indignantly.

TugMug groaned audibly while Alluro, Chilla, and RedEye kept theirs silent, although they felt no less strongly about Luna blowing their cover with her big mouth. So much for keeping a low profile and trying not to attract the attention of those who might hold them accountable for the crimes they had been run off the Moons for all those years ago.

The royal pair and their companions, however, stared at their new guests in astonishment. "What?" Frostor said incredulously. "You're Luna? The Luna, leader of the capitol city's crime syndicate?" He started laughing. "Do you take us for fools? The disasters put us back a few years, but we're not that far behind the times that we can't do math, thank you." He turned to one of the servants. "Get me a drink." He then faced Luna again. "I'll give you points for originality though. Now tell us who you really are."

"I don't think it's particularly original _or _funny," the psi said, glaring at them collectively.

Frowning, Selene looked up at her husband. "It's all right, Psiarik, we've been rather informal with them so far. Perhaps they just have an off sense of humor."

"Luna's off all right," TugMug snorted in derision, and folded his arms.

"So your name is Luna, then?" asked Silvian.

Psiarik's scowl etched deeper. "Oh, come on, you aren't playing along with this, are you?"

Selene sighed. "Psiarik, please don't—"

"Don't what? Get angry?" he retorted. "Why not? Who do they think they are that they can come into the royal household and make ridiculous claims and feed us lies?"

Rolling his eyes, Silvian set his drink flute down on an end table. "Oh, to quote an ice-mooner, chill out. What's crawled into your pants today?"

Frostor also frowned, although at Psiarik rather than Luna that time. "Look, if you're still stewing about having to take that trip to the ice moon—"

"That has nothing to do with it," the psi replied, waving him off. "I just don't appreciate liars." He glared at Luna's group again.

That time it was Chilla that spoke up. "Who said we were lying?" Although she did not particularly care about the virtue of honesty, Chilla most certainly did care about having some sulky royal that did not even know her accuse her of something she had not done.

"Please now," Selene interrupted, stepping between the groups, looking from one to the other. "Let's be serious. Luna and her… associates… have been gone from the moons since before I was born. You're simply not old enough to be who you say you are." She eyed Luna carefully. "And if you were, you'd be a once or twice removed great aunt of mine."

"Not to mention wanted criminals, but hey, who am I to throw the book at someone who lived a life of petty crime back when I was a schoolboy on Lixuvekh?" Frostor said with a shrug before taking a second look at the group. "It's a shame you _aren't_ that Luna. Despite being a power-hungry, semi-treasonous fiend, she was a fascinating historical figure. I'd have loved to pick her brains on a few things. I couldn't have written such a good thesis on a boring individual."

"Of course I'm not boring, and I'll have you know that Lunaro called anything that made him look bad 'treason'. My arrogant cousin didn't like me proving that I could rule his people better than he could with his infernal taxes and little spies everywhere enforcing laws, half of which only existed to make him feel better about himself," Luna snapped at the ice general. "As for our age, as the prince there can tell you, we had an annoying run-in with an accursed black magic-practicing mummy that encased us in molten rock for fifteen years when we wouldn't follow his orders."

"The suspension you mentioned earlier," Silvian said, his eyes widening as the possibility that they really were who they claimed to be began to register.

Selene also listened to the farfetched account with an open ear, perhaps because it was so ridiculous that no one who was not telling the truth could concoct such an outlandish tale without being certifiably insane. "Really? Wow…"

Psiarik, however, was not as easily convinced as his wife or brother-in-law. "Oh come on, you aren't buying this, are you?" He looked to Frostor. "What about you?"

The Governor General evaluated the group gathered in the chamber with the eyes of both the historian he had been educated as the military strategist he had become via trial by fire surviving the disasters. "I will say that if what you say is true about the age discrepancy, other parts are consistent," he conceded. The conviction and familiar way that Luna had spoken of King Lunaro had a convincing ring to it, he had to admit, but it would take more than a good act make him believe it. "Luna had others of her gang with her when she left the Moons, her brute Amok and some of her hired thugs that also evaded arrest. There was an icewalker named Chilla," he glanced at the ice woman.

"She did say that was her name," Silvian corroborated.

"A darkling named RedEye—yes, you would fit the descriptions of him," he said with a nod to RedEye. "TugMug," he eyed the graviton and noted the details of his garb, down to the gauntlet on one hand that he had seen in historical images. "And Alluro," he finished, giving the hypnotist an evaluating look before returning his attention to the self-proclaimed leader of their group. "There was another that evaded arrest with your group, a telekinetic psi. Where is he?"

"_She_ is dead and married to the same damnable mummy that imprisoned us."

"And in that order," TugMug grumbled afterward.

Luna narrowed her eyes at Frostor. "My, I'd think such an expert as yourself would have gotten Torlei's name and gender right since you claim to know so much about us."

Frostor gave a slow nod and smiled. "Congratulations. You passed my little test. Okay, you've sold me for now. You're _the_ Luna." He raised a brow. "You're also brave coming back to the Moons of Plundarr, considering your crimes on record and the outstanding warrants for your arrest."

"There will be no arrests for crimes we don't even have real records of and witnesses for," Selene interjected, holding her hand up in a way that indicated she was not to be contradicted.

"So why did you come back if you are really… them?" Silvian asked. "Are you fleeing the mummy that trapped you on Third Earth?"

"Is that Mumm-Rana, the same one that persecuted Queen Luna, your grandmother?" Selene questioned.

Chilla shook her head. "No. It was Mumm-Ra. He's Mumm-Rana's opposite, actually. The ever-living source of evil as opposed to the ever-living source of goodness."

"We have no use for either of them," RedEye pointed out.

"Extremists of either sort can be quite tedious," Silvian agreed.

Psiarik remained the only one unconvinced that they were not being put on by a very good act. "I don't believe we're standing here listening to this," he growled under his breath before folding his arms and glaring at them crossly. "What's your real agenda, anyway? Extortion? Or are you just looking for a free ride on the royal gravy train?"

"We never asked you for anything, psi," Chilla hissed dangerously at him, her already thin patience worn by his attitude. "What's your problem?"

"Now that's something we'd all like to know," Silvian remarked snidely, while Psiarik turned his glare on him.

"Don't make me hypnotize you and send you off the fifth story balcony in the middle of the night!"

"Oh please," the prince retorted at his surly brother-in-law. "You can't even thrall your way out of a paper bag. Maybe if you could do it right, you could convince Frostor not to drag you off to the ice moon on mining missions."

"Enough!" Selene broke in sternly. "Honestly, the two of you act like such toddlers sometimes. Silvian, stop needling him, and Psiarik, will you _please _calm down? Why are you so unwilling to listen to them?"

"I'm not a sucker and I won't be taken for one."

"Prudence has its place, but their facts do match up. It would be a very elaborate ruse for anyone to pull off if it wasn't genuine, and I can't see a good motivation for it," Frostor admitted. "Even a cursory background check would reveal quickly if they were lying, and of all the individuals to imitate looking for a 'free ride' as you suggested, wanted criminals from the past wouldn't be the average con artist's first choice when looking for a sympathetic ear."

"No," Psiarik growled, his emphatic tone almost bordering on desperation.

"Why not?" Frostor pressed.

"Because that would mean..." Psiarik turned away, unable to look at the group of them any longer, especially one individual in particular, the proverbial elephant in the room that he had chosen to ignore. "Just forget it. I don't want to discuss it."

Selene frowned and laid a firm hand on his arm. "Well you're going to after making such a big deal out of it. Why does it matter to you so much anyway? Do you know them?"

"No."

"Did—did your family know them?" she prodded gently. Psiarik became very touchy when the subject of his family was broached, for various personal reasons, and she wondered if the resemblance of one of them to him was reminding him of someone or something he would rather not think about. "Did Luna or her associates do anything to them back then?" She lowered her voice. "Or was one of them involved in her… organization?"

Psiarik looked from his wife to Luna and her gang with a clenched jaw. "You could say that."

Silvian let out a bored and impatient sigh. "Oh, spit it out already then. What is it?"

"You want to know?" he snapped. "Fine. Yeah, one of them _did_ have a connection to my family. Specifically to my mother. She wasn't a part of their operations. My mother was too classy for that. But she did get involved with one, and I'm—"

Selene gasped as she figured it out. "My gods!"

"Holy crap! _That's_ who the father you never talk about was? One of Luna's gang?"

"Yes." The venom in Psiarik's tone was enough to kill the conversation on the spot, and an awkward silence filled the room as everyone's eyes shifted between Psiarik and Alluro, the reason behind their resemblance suddenly quite clear.

"What?" Alluro felt as though someone had kicked him in the stomach as the reality of what he had just heard sank in.

"Hmph," Luna mused. "He does look a lot like you."

"Poor guy," TugMug chortled, while RedEye unsuccessfully stifled a corresponding snicker.

"And I'm certainly not the guy's father," Chilla added sarcastically.

Ignoring the others, Alluro tried to sort his thoughts. "I can't believe Lurella was… she never said anything…"

When he heard Alluro say his mother's name, Psiarik let out a holler of uncontrollable fury. Until that point a part of him had been clinging to the notion that they were liars trying to pull a scam, but faced with one of them confirming not only Frostor's facts but also a family secret that he had not even told his wife in full, he had no choice but to accept their word. Unable to deal with that, and the whirlwind of repressed emotions that it stirred within him, he lost it. "No!"

Silvian sneered at the outburst. "Denial in action."

"Don't start," Selene snapped at her little brother before turning back to her husband. "Please, calm down!"

"Calm down? My good-for-nothing father, the sleaze who used my mother for her money, broke her heart, and skipped the Moons when the law caught up with him leaving her alone with me—this _jerk_ shows up with one of the most wanted criminal leaders in history and their gang, and you and Silvian invite them into our home and you expect me to make friends and _calm down_?" As he shouted the last words a random burst of telekinetic energy from his psyche caused a vase behind Silvian to explode.

The lunar man ducked the flying ceramic and stared irritably at his brother-in-law. "You can take your telekinetic temper tantrum outside."

Alluro, meanwhile, felt defensive at the ugly picture his until-then-unknown son had of him. "I didn't 'run off'. I didn't even know you existed."

"I'm shocked," Psiarik snapped at Alluro sarcastically, making direct eye contact with him for the first time. "My mother said you had a rather high opinion of yourself. Maybe if you actually gave a damn about her, you might've noticed."

Luna was unable to resist the chance to make a dig at Alluro that his son provided the opening for. "It seems Lurella wasn't as much of an airhead as we all thought. She had you pegged rather well."

"Shut up, Luna."

Psiarik meanwhile narrowed his eyes at Luna that time. "Don't you _dare_ pass judgment on my mother. She was my only family, her and later my stepfather and half-sister, and you _won't _speak ill of her in my presence. My mother deserves far more respect than my so-called father."

Selene held up both hands mediating between Psiarik and Alluro and Luna and drew a deep breath. "I think we all need to take a step back and cool off."

"Yeah," Psiarik agreed flatly. "I'm outta here." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, and the MoonSaber in his hands, temporarily forgotten amidst the drama, left with him.

* * *

A moon's distance away in the cockpit of the Feliner, Bengali, Lion-O, and WilyKit sped as fast as they could towards the area on the ice moon where they had traced Panthro's distress signal. WilyKit's face was lined with worry. "I'm scanning the entire area, but I still don't see any trace of Panthro."

"Keep looking," Bengali said from beside her. "He's got to be around here somewhere. We're practically on top of the coordinates where we pinpointed the signal."

Lion-O, busy monitoring the life-reading scanners, picked up a promising blip on his screen. "Check six degrees northeast, Bengali. There's a life reading that could be him. It seems to be underground, but it's the closest we've got, and it's strong."

"Hope it's not a Lunar-Plundarrian polar bear," WilyKit murmured.

"I hear they're even meaner than the Lunatacs themselves," Bengali said as he maneuvered the Feliner.

A moment later the levity was forgotten as WilyKit pointed to a snow-covered lump near a thicket of evergreens. "Look! I see something! Panthro's ship!"

"Yes, but he isn't in it according to this reading," Lion-O said with a frown. "The life reading is still three degrees farther on."

"Maybe he abandoned it for better shelter. It is cold out there, and a cavern could be better protection from the piercing winds than a damaged ship," suggested Bengali.

WilyKit focused her scanners on the same region as Lion-O's life reading. "I've got a visual of some kind of ice structure. If it's under the snow crust, it could read as underground. You think that could be it, Lion-O?"

"I think it's worth checking out," Lion-O said. "Bengali, take us down."

"You got it." The white tiger landed the craft just outside what they could now see was a sturdy igloo.

As soon as they landed, the Thundercats left the Feliner and carefully made their way into the igloo. Once inside they relaxed and exchanged expressions of relief when they saw Panthro sleeping peacefully near a fire, curled up in a blanket. Bengali was the first to reach his side and he shook him awake. "Panthro! Are you all right?"

The groggy panther blinked and focused his eyes on the tiger above him. "Bengali?"

"We got your call for help," Lion-O said as he approached Bengali's side along with WilyKit, who offered a hand to help him up. "Looks like your ship made quite a crash landing. You're lucky to be in one piece. Come on, let's get you home."

"Sounds good to me," Panthro said with a tired smile, before it faded and he looked around in puzzlement. "Wait, where's Snoelle? You should thank her; she's the one who pulled my fat out of the fryer, or icer as the case is here. Did you see her? Where did she go?"

"Snoelle? Who are talking about?" WilyKit asked, a confused frown on her face. "There's no one else here, Panthro."

"Yes there is," Panthro said. "Snoelle, the Thundercat who saved me. I told you, she brought me here after she saved me from the wreckage." He looked all around them, but as his friends said, there was clearly no one in the igloo chamber but them. "Where did she go?"

"Honest, Panthro, there's nobody else here," insisted WilyKit. "We've been running life reading scans all around this area to find you and there's nothing else even close to a Thunderian anywhere. There's hardly a bird or an ice badger in these parts."

Panthro shook his head with insistence. "Then your scanners are out of whack. I'm telling you, a Thundercat named Snoelle saved me. I woke up in here. I didn't bring myself here and build a fire in my sleep. I talked to her."

Bengali put a supportive arm around Panthro's clearly sore shoulders. "Rowr, you were probably dreaming, or maybe exposure to the cold or the knocks you took in the crash made you hallucinate or remember things off from what they were."

"I didn't hallucinate her," Panthro said firmly, standing his ground. "She was here."

Realizing that the panther was not going to change his mind and more concerned about his well-being than his apparently disappearing savior, Lion-O gave a sympathetic shrug. "The Sword of Omens hasn't hinted that there are any Thundercats anywhere but back at the Lair, but even if this Snoelle was here, she's gone now. Maybe it was a Lunatac doing a good deed that convinced you they were Thunderian to save face. The people of this moon may not all be as vicious as Chilla, but I'm sure helping a Thundercat isn't anything one would brag about even if it was the right thing to do."

"She was real, and she was no Lunatac. She was a Thundercat. I saw her insignia."

Lion-O sighed. "We can talk about it back at the Lair. Let's head to the Feliner."

Bengali and WilyKit both nodded in agreement. "The weather out here isn't fit for cat or beast, even with our suits on, and the Feliner's heat runs great," said WilyKit.

The four of them left the igloo for the comforts of the Feliner, although Panthro found himself looking back over his shoulder for any trace of Snoelle and her presence. There was none, although he did not need to see it to know his experience with her had been real. She _did_ exist, she _had _been there, and she _did _save him. During the flight back to New Thundera he told Lion-O, Bengali, and WilyKit everything that had happened and everything he remembered about her, but while they humored him, he could tell that they remained dubious. They believed that he believed it, but beyond that they were unconvinced.

The stubborn panther decided that he would convince them, though, and the pleasant memory of her tender touch was enough motivation for him to resolve to look up whatever he could find out about her in the Book of Omens as soon as he was physically able.

* * *

In the dark and shadowy chamber of Mumm-Ra's pyramid, the ancient mage paced back and forth in front of his cauldron. He had just cast the spell to summon Ma-Mutt back to him, and his ever-faithful demon dog panted in unabashed glee at his feet. Mumm-Ra had been revived for almost a full standard day and he relished the feeling of the power that coursed through his withered body again. "After so long, I truly appreciate this feeling of being alive, such as it is," he mused to his hound. Ma-Mutt barked in response and darted toward a sarcophagus that lay near his. The summoning spell he had cast earlier had brought it there and summoned the spirit to the body resting inside it, but it had yet to open.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, Ma-Mutt," Mumm-Ra said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. "I've put off waking her up all day. It's just been so nice and quiet without her here to annoy me."

His familiar barked again and Mumm-Ra let out a weary sigh. "I know, I know. The Ancient Spirits of Evil ordered me to do it. But I still don't have to enjoy it." He raised his arms and spoke a magic chant that caused a sinister blue light to burst from his fingertips and rattle the latch of his slumbering bride's resting place. All was still in the black pyramid for a moment afterward, but then her crypt opened.

"Ah, Torlei, you have arisen," Mumm-Ra greeted her humorlessly.

His undead Lunatac bride, garbed in her navy blue dress and silver-linked belt containing a lightning bolt medallion in the center, emerged with her red eyes ablaze. She smoothed a pale purple hand over her unruly gray hair and sneered at him. "Dear husband," she said sarcastically. "Did you miss me?"

Mumm-Ra turned away and looked into his cauldron. "Only in your dreams."

She cackled. "Darling, you're breaking my heart."

"Oh, I wasn't aware you possessed one of those," Mumm-Ra replied dryly.

Torlei joined him at the cauldron edge, her tone now all business. "Twelve years ago you told me I should rest for a long while, and that it would not matter in the end because time was immaterial to us. So tell me, why did you wake me now, earlier than expected, if not for my stimulating companionship?"

He narrowed his eyes at her arrogant presumption that he would summon her for such a trivial reason as loneliness, especially for the company of such an unpleasant soul as herself. Even the benefit of carnal pleasure that their ever-living bodies could feel if they so chose was not enough of a benefit to tolerate her long, and he would not bother seeking that—one of the only things she might be good for, he thought nastily—until their enemies were disposed of and the Ancients were appeased.

"I was ordered by the Ancient Spirits of Evil to bring you back among the ever-living to work with me. The time has come for us to get our revenge on the Thundercats and be rid of them once and for all. We must work together for this."

"I see." Torlei's interest was piqued. "How?"

The mummy's lips parted to reveal a devilish smile of jagged teeth, and his red eyes lit up with anticipation. "Look, my dear, and I will show you," he said, and gestured to the waters of his cauldron. The foul fluid began to roil and bubble as images detailing his wicked plans began to take form.


	3. Memories - Part Three

Gathered in the MoonTower's observatory were Luna, Amok, Chilla, and TugMug along with their lunar royal hosts Queen Selene and Prince Silvian. It had only taken a few short questions for Selene to determine Luna's exact familial tie to her and Silvian, although for simplicity's sake she dubbed her newfound relation "Aunt Luna" as it was easier than detailing it out. The queen and prince courteously extended an invitation for Luna and her group to stay with them in the MoonTower until they were settled in the capitol area. Although the royalty and their court habitually greeted all strangers to the area, especially armed ones, personally for security reasons, ones deemed friendly newcomers to the area were usually shuffled along to an inn or surplus military housing if temporary accommodations were required. Being Selene and Silvian's relative, however, earned Luna a place of honor, ironically in much the way Psiarik had earlier been concerned that a con artist would. Fortunately for them Luna was genuine, at least insofar as being who she said she was, and the Lunatacs agreed to obey the local laws and mind the royal authority in exchange for a pardon for their shady pasts.

For the time being, Luna was content enough to pay lip service and humor them. Selene and Silvian were hospitable, and they certainly treated her with more respect than their parents ever had, so she would honor their wishes for the time being. Family bonding had never been a high priority of hers, but she had nothing against the notion either, especially since the royal siblings were being generous. The MoonTower was by far the nicest accommodations they had had in a long time.

After they had been speaking for a while, Frostor joined them, bringing Alluro, RedEye, and Vultureman with him. "Greetings," he said to the assembled group. "Guess who wanted to come and say 'hi' to some old friends?"

"Caw, well I wouldn't go so far as to call them 'friends', but hello anyway, Luna."

Luna sneered. "I wouldn't go half that far, feather-head. I can't believe you turned up on my home moon amongst my kin of all places. Unbelievably small, this universe."

The vulture's beak twisted into a sarcastic smile. "Not that small. It's big enough that you've managed to last all these years without coming up on the unfriendly end of a blaster. I'm surprised that your group didn't run afoul of someone with better weapons yet."

"Leave it to the bird brain to talk about fowl," TugMug wisecracked, much to the amusement of Chilla, RedEye, and Alluro.

Vultureman chose not to dignify the graviton with an acknowledgment. "So where have you been since Way Out Back?"

"All over, but nowhere worth staying very long," Luna said. "So what made you choose to stay here rather than return to Plundarr with your old pals?"

The vulture lifted his beak into the air in a haughty manner. "Slythe and the others never appreciated my genius. I might've gotten some respect amongst the other vultures, but they're terrible at getting anything done as far as getting the rats, reptilians, and the others to listen to them. I don't have the patience for that."

"And we pay better, too," Frostor said with a knowing grin. "Brilliant or not, disaffected rogues with a history of CONTROL detainment aren't prime employment candidates in the Plundarrian military and science community."

"That too," Vultureman admitted, folding his arms crossly at having that annoying fact pointed out.

"Anyhow, I have something I'd like to bring up," Frostor told Selene and Silvian in a serious tone. "I meant to bring it up earlier, but the arrival of Luna and her friends here caused such a stir that we forgot."

Vultureman cackled. "Luna's always had a knack for stirring things up."

"Isn't _that_ the truth?" Alluro chortled in agreement.

"Ordinarily I'd classify this, but I think given the unique circumstances of your group and what I know of your tenure on Third Earth from Vultureman, you have experience with the other artifacts in the class of what I'm about to tell you about, so I'll include you on it. You six weren't the only ones that made an appearance out of the past recently."

"You must be talking about this," Psiarik's voice sounded from the archway leading in from the adjoining hall. The psi held out the MoonSaber while he and a darkling woman with a shoulder-length lock of ruby-tinted black hair that looked to be about ten years his senior strode into the room. "Sorry about taking off with it earlier. I was mad and not thinking clearly."

Silvian snorted. "You're never thinking, clearly or not."

Psiarik shot the lunar prince a dirty look while Selene came over to him. "I was worried! Where did you go?"

"Doesn't matter."

"I found him feeling sorry for himself outside," the darkling woman said. "I dragged him back in here."

After giving her a nod, Selene took it upon herself to introduce her to the rest of the group. "By the way, this is Lushara. She's another member of our court and a good friend of ours. She's been with us since the beginning, one of the survivors from the capitol. Lushara, these are Luna and—"

"Psiarik filled me in on who they are," Lushara said, casting her eyes toward Luna's crew. "Some more than others," she added, eyeing Alluro, before her glance fell on RedEye, a pleasant surprise. There were not all that many dark-dwellers in the area and none that were eligible men her age. She smiled at him, and RedEye, apparently finding the woman of his race a welcome sight as well, smiled back.

Frostor took the MoonSaber from Psiarik and handed it to Selene. "This is what I wanted to talk to you about. A mine worker on Lixuvekh found this in one of the tunnels encased in blue ice with odd properties, perhaps supernatural ones given what this is. It's been missing for over fifty years, but I'm convinced this is it given where it turned up and what I know about the circumstances of its disappearance. It's the legendary MoonSaber."

Almost every Lunatac in the room gasped. "The MoonSaber!" Luna exclaimed. "The legendary sword of Luran the Conqueror? Are you sure?"

"Sure as I can be without asking Luran himself," Frostor said. "I've seen many drawings and depictions of it in my time. It certainly looks like it, and I can't imagine that someone would go through all the trouble to bury a false one in the mountains of the ice moon."

"Gods, the lost sword… do you know what this means to us?" Silvian said, his eyes alit with excitement. "The kind of power we have now?"

Psiarik looked from Selene to Silvian, and then to Frostor and Luna, with a dubious expression. "Does everyone know about this freakin' sword but me?"

"Don't mock its power!" Silvian berated him. "This is our birthright. Both our parents and our governess told us about this, and how if it was ever found from where our grandfather had the sorceress Chillandra hide it, that it would be our responsibility to hold and wield it for the good of the Moons."

"Okay, sorry, but really, I didn't know," Psiarik said.

Selene carefully turned the sword over in her hands, studying its detail, and spent a moment eyeing the luminous moonstone in the handle. "King Mallar had Chillandra hide this sword for a reason. Grandfather was worried about some prophecy that it could be used with the Plundarrians' and Thunderians' swords to bring great destruction in the wrong hands. Now that it's been found, what do we do with it?"

Silvian extended his hand to his sister for the sword, and she handed it to him. As soon as he took hold of it, the prince found it felt natural in his hands. The blade hummed ever so subtly with what he knew to be incredible power. "We use it to protect ourselves and our Moons, what it was meant for."

"Incredible," Lushara said softly. "I'd always thought that story about Chillandra hiding the MoonSaber was embellished for the sake of dramatics, to make a good tale for children to feel safe at night. Kind of like the warnings my parents gave me about the trickster moon fairies of the dark moon forests."

"I'm sure some of the tales got a bit tall over the years, but there are plenty of historical accounts documenting the sword's use, and if they hadn't been destroyed with the palace, I'd bet there were classified files about it dating from Mallar's reign," Frostor said. "And given that we know for a fact that the Sword of Plundarr and Sword of Omens have such impressive powers also, why not our MoonSaber?"

"Should we heighten security in light of this? Do you think someone might attempt to take it, like that Thundercat did fifty years ago?" asked Selene.

Putting his arm around his wife's shoulders, Psiarik reassured her, "If they do, they're toast. Regardless of the sword's legend or history, nobody's going to take what's ours with all we've gone through to get it. You can count on that."

"Absolutely," Silvian echoed, now holding the MoonSaber proudly as if it had always belonged to him. "I'm as good as invincible with this in my hands. I've got equal power to the Mutant Warrior King and the Lord of the Thundercats. With our sword back in the hands they belong in, no Mutant or Thundercat will get away with threatening us ever again."

Vultureman let out a low caw to interrupt. "Actually, no Mutant Warrior King has had the Sword of Plundarr for years. Much as I'm sure Ratar-O would like it, he doesn't have it. Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living does."

Luna frowned. "We heard that wretched bag of bones was defeated years ago."

"Yeah, probably the only thing the Thundercats ever did that we'd thank them for," TugMug added with a sneer.

"You Lunatacs ought to know by now that Mumm-Ra has a, caw, annoying habit of turning up even after he's been defeated." Vultureman cocked his head to one side. "And given that I know for a fact that Ratar-O still doesn't have the Sword of Plundarr means that it's somewhere not on Plundarr—probably still on New Thundera, in Mumm-Ra's pyramid. We would know if the Thundercats had it."

"Given what the Sword of Plundarr did to Thundera last time, I imagine they wouldn't touch it with a staff ten times the length of Cheetara's given the chance," RedEye theorized.

"Or at the very least they wouldn't keep it," Luna agreed. "Lion-O is too 'honorable' to steal, or so he'd have everyone believe. He would've made some announcement about how they were keeping it for the greater good, or some nonsense, if they had it."

With a nod, Vultureman finished with a note of impatience, "which is precisely why I'm telling you that I'd bet a heap of intergalactic credits that Mumm-Ra still has it."

Selene looked again at the sword in her brother's hands. "So if Mumm-Ra has the Sword of Plundarr, how would that play into the legend? If he's an enemy of the Thundercats and has the Mutants' sword, is he allied with them? Is he only against the Thundercats, or are we his enemy also?"

"He's no ally of the Mutants," Vultureman said with disgust. "That mummy's double-crossed us more than once, just like he has Luna and her crew." The Lunatacs nodded in agreement to what the vulture said. "Mumm-Ra is allied with only one being—Mumm-Ra."

"And without our MoonSaber and the Sword of Omens, there's little he could do as far as the ancient magical incantations go anyway, I suppose," mused Selene. A wistful smile crossed her lips. "And there was a part of the legend that said that we could also use them to unite in peace. There's something to be said for putting an end to the old wars once and for all."

"You want peace with the Thundercats? The miserable felines that persecuted and harassed us back on Third Earth, and had us locked up on a circus train run by a two-bit con man that paid off someone in CONTROL for the privilege of keeping 'criminals' for his own profit?" an incredulous Luna exclaimed.

Taken somewhat aback by the vehemence in Luna's tone, Selene gave her relation a sympathetic and sheepish look, while TugMug continued Luna's train of thought. "And make friends with those stupid, worthless Mutants?"

"Caw!" Vultureman started to protest, but Alluro cut him off.

"Oh, present company is excluded, of course, Vultureman." The sarcastic lilt in the hypnotist's tone and the look on his face made the level of sincerity in his "diplomatic" statement clear.

The avian harrumphed and put his hands on his hips, opting to let the snide remarks go in favor of returning to the matter at hand. "Regardless, as long as Mumm-Ra has the Sword of Plundarr, it'd be a pipe dream. He's not interested in seeing peace unless it's everyone being subservient to him while he rules."

Silvian fingered the hilt of the MoonSaber and met Selene's eyes. "You're naïve, sister, if you think that there could ever be peace between us and Plundarr or Thundera. It's hard enough to keep our own Moons' races united, and we're all Lunatacs."

The elder of the royal siblings frowned. "Difficult as it would be, it's still better than the alternative—dying together."

"Or we could just not worry about it until it becomes an actual problem," Psiarik suggested, pulling Selene closer to him. "We have the sword, we'll protect it, and the Moons will be safe. Why go looking for trouble?"

Lushara cast the psi a bemused look. "Is denial how you like to handle _everything_?"

"Let's not start that again, please," Frostor said with a note of finality. "Actually, I agree with him as far as the MoonSaber is concerned. With Silvian it's in the hands of its rightful protector." He looked at Selene. "Not that I think you have any less of a claim to it, but frankly, he's more suited to combat. Queen you may be, warrior queen you are not."

"I understand, Frostor, and I agree. Silvian always liked to play rougher than I did."

"And I'd rather leave you with the paperwork and diplomacy," the prince retorted.

Selene smiled good-naturedly. "That's because it's done right when I do it," she said, and then addressed the group as a whole. "It's agreed then. Silvian will be the MoonSaber's master and guardian."

* * *

In his quarters on New Thundera's Cat's Lair, Panthro lay back against his pillows, propping him up into a sitting position. His injuries from the crash had been deemed minor enough to keep him out of the medical bay, but Pumyra had recommended that he take it easy for a few more days, reminding him nicely that even strong panthers need time to recuperate. "We just want to be on the safe side," she had said, but much like Lion-O, Panthro hated the safe side. It was boring.

Making his forced rest and relaxation more tedious were the vivid memories of Snoelle. The panther simply could not get his pretty savior on the ice moon out of his mind. The desire to see her again, not just to validate his experience but also to know her better, was driving him absolutely crazy. Panthro was not prone to acting like a cub with a crush, but when it came to Snoelle, he was absolutely smitten. He needed to find out who she was, why she as a Thundercat was alone on the ice moon, and get some straight answers.

He heard a knock at the door and called for whoever was there to come in. Six-year-old Pumari, Bengali and Pumyra's daughter and only cub, entered the room smiling brightly and holding a plate of cookies balanced on top of a thick gold-bound book. "Hi Panthro. Are you feeling better?"

"I sure am, but I wish they'd let me prove it by letting me out of house arrest," he replied.

The girl approached the bed and set the load she carried down. "Mom said that you should take it easy in case something didn't heal right."

"Your mom worries too much."

"Yeah, sometimes," Pumari agreed. "She sure got mad when I slid the spaceboard down the Lair's front steps. She said I'd crack my head open, but I didn't get hurt."

Panthro laughed despite himself. "Well you should at least wear a helmet trying stunts like that." He eyed the tray of cookies. "Snarf's been baking today?"

Pumari nodded and held out the plate to him. "I helped him. They're chocolate and berbil-berry. We still have a lot of them from our last trip to Third Earth."

"Well if you helped then I'm sure they're extra good," Panthro said, and took a bite of one. He gave the girl the thumbs-up and then picked up the book she brought.

"Snarf said you wanted to read the Book of Omens so I brought it to you." She watched as the panther began flipping through the pages. "What are you looking up? Anything neat like the Treasure of Thundera?"

He shook his head. "Not this time. I'm checking records of past Thundercats. I want to see if the Book of Omens says anything about the one who saved me on the ice moon."

"Oh! Mom said you were talking about a lady who helped you there. I didn't know she was a Thundercat too. What was her name?"

"Snoelle."

"That's a pretty name," Pumari said, and then sighed. "Well, I can't stay. Daddy said I had to help Snarf with the chores today and I'm not really done yet." She headed for the door and waved. "I hope you find your friend."

Panthro smiled and waved back. "Thanks. Me too."

When she left, he returned his attention to the pages of the Book of Omens. He found the section devoted to chronicling the highlights of the careers of past Thundercat nobles. Thumbing through until he found the accounts dating to Lord Katan's reign, he soon found an entry for a Thundercat with the same name that the woman on the ice moon had given him, along with a sketch of her likeness. He traced his fingertip over the edges of it, struck again when he saw that same face that had been haunting his thoughts. "You _were_ there. I knew it." Panthro then began to read the biographical information below the image:

_**Thundercat Snoelle, of the Snow**_ _**Leopard**_ _**Mountain**_ _**Clan:**_ _Accomplished huntress and mystic of the snows. Thundercat Snoelle earned the love of her clan and the Thunderian people for her valiant combat in the Mutant wars and for her selfless dedication to saving and helping those doomed in deadly blizzards and avalanches. Thundercat Snoelle's last mission serving Lord Katan was to secure the MoonSaber from notorious warlord King Mallar of the Third Moon of Plundarr to prevent the Lunatac king from using its powers to oppress the people of Thundera. Plundarr Mutants had already declared their intent to conquer Thundera using their Sword of Plundarr, willing to invoke the ancient Incantation of Destruction to assert their might if necessary, and Lord Katan feared similar intentions from King Mallar given his ruthless and imperialistic reputation, and the increasing number of Lunatac raids in the western provinces of Thundera. _

_Thundercat Snoelle successfully acquired the MoonSaber from the halls of the Lunatac King, but was pursued by the Lunatac sorceress Chillandra, Mistress of the Cold, who shot down her ship and forced her to crash on the Ice Moon of Plundarr. No further communications were received from Thundercat Snoelle, but it is presumed that Chillandra overpowered Thundercat Snoelle on Plundarr's ice moon. Neither the MoonSaber nor Thundercat Snoelle's remains were recovered in the wreckage of her craft. It is believed that the Mistress of the Cold took the MoonSaber and Thundercat Snoelle, and hid or destroyed them, as none of the three were ever heard from again._

_The Snow_ _Leopard_ _Mountain_ _Clan was deeply grieved by the loss of Thundercat Snoelle and blamed Lord Katan and inept leadership for her death. The clan refused to allow any more of their number to join the Thundercats as long as it was led by lions from Lord Katan's line. _

It was only when he finished reading the passage that Panthro realized that he had been holding his breath, and he inhaled sharply. _Snoelle was only presumed dead on the ice moon, and that was why she was there to help me. _A moment later he realized the folly in that line of thinking. Snoelle would have been quite old herself if that was the case, not the vibrant woman in her prime that he had encountered in the igloo. It occurred to Panthro then that he never actually _felt_ her touch, only the warmth that radiated from it. _Great Jaga, she's a ghost, _he realized with a great sense of disappointment. _I was saved by a ghost._ Dismayed, Panthro closed the Book of Omens. _I'll never see her again_, he thought sadly.

* * *

That night, Panthro had a very vivid dream.

_He was back in the igloo on the ice moon, wrapped in a blanket by the warm glow of the fire. Snoelle came in and sat beside him. "I have come back for you," she said in a seductive whisper._

"_Why did you leave when the others came?" Panthro asked, but Snoelle did not answer. Instead she drew him into her arms and kissed him with tender passion. The panther eagerly accepted her delightful embrace and held her with desire and affection after the kiss ended._

"_Why did you leave?" he asked again. "Where can I find you?"_

"_In my state I do not belong in your realm," came her cryptic response. "Just be with me now, handsome panther." The snow leopard kissed him again, and that time Panthro did not resist her charms further. He took the beautiful Thunderian that had captivated him so into his arms and made love to her, his senses alive with excitement and the delightful touch of her soft fur that was most definitely not phantom flesh._

_When pleasures of their interlude came to an end, Panthro was dismayed to see his lover slipping back into the shadows once more. "No," he called after her. "Don't leave again!"_

"_I can not stay," she called back, her voice filled with regret. "My cold prison binds me to this place. Find me and save me, as I saved you, and I will come with you."_

_Snoelle then vanished, and as her form faded into the shadows, the warm glow of the fire died, leaving Panthro shivering in the cold and lonely chamber._

Back in reality, Panthro sat bolt upright in his bed. He realized that what he had just experienced had been a dream, but the way his heart still pounded and the vivid memories of it left him knowing in his soul that it had also been something else. It was a sign, a call, a plea, from his savior to him to now save her. "Snoelle does exist and she's still alive." His mind reeled to sort through it. Panthro had never experienced otherworldly things the way Thunderians with a sixth sense, such as Cheetara, had, but he also knew that not everyone had to have that sense to be able to hear or experience such messages when they were sent by one who was. _And the Book of Omens did say something about her being a "mystic of the snows",_ Panthro recalled, and from what he remembered of the snow leopard clan, they had been a spiritual people with a belief that they were attuned to the astral world. If so, then it was conceivable that Snoelle, if she was alive and trapped, could have reached out to him with a psychic message.

"That's good enough proof for me," the panther decided, and leapt out of bed to ready himself for a trip back the ice moon.

Cheetara was out in the hall, awake and returning from a midnight visit to the little cheetah's room when she passed Panthro on his way to the landing bay. Surprised to see him up not only up and about but also with a cat suit on, she followed him to the hangar. He was already at the Feliner II, a newer version of their original ship that had been built several years earlier so that they would have more than one at their disposal, when she reached him.

"And where are you off to at this hour?" she asked, brow raised as she knew that Pumyra had asked him to take it easy.

"I have to go back to the ice moon, Cheetara," he said urgently.

"What?" the surprised cheetah exclaimed. "Why? Pumyra wants you resting, not out flying." She frowned. "I hope this isn't about your ship. We can recover some of it later for you to rebuilt, but now isn't—"

"It's not the blasted ship, Cheetara, it's Snoelle," Panthro said impatiently as he lifted the hatch, before turning back toward Cheetara. "I know that you all think I imagined her, but she's there. I know it. And she needs my help. She's trapped, and I've got to figure out how to free her so she can come home."

The passion and conviction with which he spoke gave Cheetara pause. Panthro was not the type to indulge a crazy whim, but he was someone that would go to the ends of creation for the right reasons. "How do you know this, Panthro?" she asked. "I know you experienced something there, but WilyKit said the scanners didn't pick up on anyone or anything other than you."

"Then the scanners were wrong," Panthro asserted. "Look, I know what I'm saying probably sounds a little off, but I know what I feel and I have to go. I had this dream about her where she told me she was trapped, that she couldn't leave there without being freed. And dang blast it, if there's any way to do it, I will."

"A dream," Cheetara repeated. More so than any of the other Thundercats, Cheetara could understand what it was like to be driven by a hunch. Living with a sixth sense made that often unexplainable sense of certainty about something that could not be accounted for otherwise a reality. "All right, Panthro. I understand. But I don't think you should go by yourself. Whether you agree or not, Pumyra thinks as a healer and your friend that you need more time to recover, and the ice moon isn't easy terrain in our best form."

"All right. Another set of eyes can't hurt. Come on aboard." He waved for her to join him.

"Whoa, let me get a cat suit first!" the cheetah protested with a laugh. "And while I'm at it, I'll see if I can rouse a few others to come along too. Landing on Lunatac territory we ought to be prepared for trouble, especially if your rescuer friend is being held prisoner."

Panthro nodded, impatient but still appreciative of the help. "Okay, but hurry. I'd like to get moving."

Cheetara smiled back at him. "No problem. You don't have to tell a cheetah to hurry." She then darted out, and in the time it took Panthro to top off the Feliner II's fuel and warm the engines up, Cheetara returned with Lion-O, Tygra, and WilyKit, each with cat suits and weapons in their hands.

"Cheetara says you're sure that this Thundercat Snoelle is up there imprisoned on the moon," Lion-O said as they climbed aboard.

"More than ever," the panther assured his lord. "I'll wash Snarf's dishes for a week if she's not."

WilyKit chortled as she fastened her seat belt. "Wow, well Snarf will love you if you're wrong."

Panthro found himself thinking that he would much rather Snoelle love him if he was right, especially in light of that dream, but he kept the thought to himself. Instead he simply laughed along with his friends in good spirits as they blasted off into the sky above.

* * *

The other Plundarrian moons and nearby planets shone brightly in the ice moon's nighttime sky, causing the snow-covered tundra of the ice moon of Plundarr to cast a slight glow that led additional light to the darkness of the uninhabited area. Wearing their cat suits, the Thundercats disembarked from the Feliner II and began to explore the area surrounding the igloo in which they had found Panthro after his crash.

"No footprints except for ours, not even an animal," Tygra remarked.

Lion-O looked around the desolate area, fighting a sense of disappointment. Although he and the others still had some doubts, he had hoped they were wrong, not only for Panthro's sake, but for the sake of the Thundercat they had come to rescue if she needed their help. "I hate to say it, but I think Snarf's dishes may be calling your name, Panthro."

"I know she's here," Panthro insisted. He stepped inside the igloo, but was dismayed to find only the burnt out fire as evidence that anyone at all had been there. Given the crystalline ice coating on the ashes, it was clear that it had not been lit again since the Thundercats had last been there. "She _has_ to be here. I know it."

Walking slowly toward the center of the room, Cheetara closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind to be receptive to any psychic signals that her sixth sense might pick up on. She did not hear or see anything, but she did feel an overwhelming urge to face the northwest wall, and walk toward it. "Strange…"

"What is it?" WilyKit asked.

"I tried to feel with my sixth sense if anyone was here, and while I didn't hear anything, I felt drawn to this spot." Panthro came to her side, while Tygra and WilyKit stopped what they were doing and moved closer as Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens.

"If the woman Panthro dreamt about is a Thundercat, then perhaps the Eye of Thundera can show us where she is." He held the mystical blade of the Thunderians upright, even with his eyes. "Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!"

Through the hilt he saw Cheetara and Panthro, and the floor beyond them facing the northwest wall alit with a surreal blue glow. The sword's focus moved in closer on that spot, seemingly penetrating the ice-packed floor of the chamber. Beneath it revealed what appeared to be a sleeping figure of a Thunderian woman ensconced in the blue light that had taken on the impression of solid crystalline matter. Her features were hazy, but he could see a Thundercat insignia on the clasp of the cloak that covered her body. Lion-O's eyes lit up with astonishment and urgency that matched Panthro's. "By Jaga, you were right, Panthro!" he exclaimed. "There _is_ a Thundercat buried here, right where Cheetara was drawn to!"

Immediately fishing an explosive pellet out of her pouch, WilyKit motioned for the others to stand back. "Then let's dig," she said, and tossed it. The marble exploded on impact, breaking through the crust of ice on the floor.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Panthro said, and began using the lasers in his nunchuks to speed things along.

It did not take long for the collective efforts of the Thundercats to reach the blue material Lion-O had seen with the sword's sight beyond sight, and soon they were able to remove enough of the natural ice and snow pack around it that they could see the figure trapped inside as well. "She's totally encased in it," an astonished Tygra said. "This is more like a coffin than anything, though. How can she be alive?"

As if to prove to them that she was, the woman's eyes opened from within the ice, startling them all, and WilyKit enough so that she gasped aloud.

"We have to get her out," Panthro said, lifting his nunchuks to take aim again.

"Hold on a moment, Panthro." Cheetara ran her glove across the blue crystal. "This isn't ordinary ice. It's got magical properties. Feel it, it's colder than the ice here. It's almost freezing my fingertips through the gloves."

Tygra knelt and touched his fingers to it also to confirm what Cheetara had said. "Incredible. And yet she's been able to survive inside it."

"She's a snow leopard," Panthro told them. "I read about her in the Book of Omens."

WilyKit eyed them, and the Thundercat they were rescuing, somberly. "All the snow leopards are gone."

"Even so, not even a cold-resistant snow leopard could live encased in ice that didn't have magical properties," said Tygra.

Cheetara nodded. "It must've kept her in some kind of stasis."

"Then let's break the ice and find out," Lion-O said decisively. "The Sword of Omens won't harm another Thundercat, so we'll use it to crack the blue ice." He raised the sword and let out a hearty cry of "Ho!" A beam of energy sprang from the blade, penetrating and splintering the magical ice so that it fell away from the Thundercat trapped inside it.

Panthro knelt and scooped up the newly freed woman, and he recognized her immediately as the woman from his dreams, and the one who had saved him from his crash. "Snoelle," he said warmly, smiling down at her.

The black and white spotted Thunderian stirred and moaned as she looked up at the panther that held her. "What—where am I?"

"With friends," Cheetara told her, also smiling at her.

Standing above the panther and cheetah kneeling by the snow leopard, Lion-O nodded and gave her a warm look. "We freed you from your prison. Panthro led us here. He said you rescued him, and then came to him in a dream." He sheathed the Sword of Omens in the claw shield. "I see from your insignia that you're a Thundercat. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats of New Thundera, and these are the good Thundercats and friends that serve me and the Code of Thundera."

She nodded and sat up, looking from Panthro and Cheetara and then to Lion-O and the others that stood with him. "I'm Thundercat Snoelle of the Snow Leopard Mountain Clan," she introduced herself. "I serve Lord Katan." She eyed Lion-O curiously. "Or I once did. I… Lord Katan isn't with us any longer, is he?"

Tygra shook his head. "I'm sorry. Lord Katan was Lord Lion-O's grandfather. Many years have passed since then." He smiled at her. "I'm Tygra, by the way. A pleasure to meet you."

"And I'm WilyKit," WilyKit said from beside Tygra. "It's an honor to have you with us, Snoelle. If your clan was still with us, I'm sure they'd be glad to have you back too."

"If they were… what do you mean?"

Panthro patted the agitated snow leopard's back reassuringly. "Shh, take it easy for now. You've been through a lot."

"If _that_ isn't the pot calling the kettle black," Tygra chuckled knowingly, while Snoelle met Panthro's eyes.

"Panthro," she said, her face lighting up with recognition. "You came for me. I knew you would." The weary snow leopard rested her head against his strong shoulder.

The panther smiled down at her. "Of course I did. How could I not, especially after you saved me?"

"How did you do that, anyway, if you were trapped in the ice?" WilyKit asked.

Sitting up, Snoelle began her explanation. "Astral projection. I had mystic training from my clan members, and I know how to reach through the ethers to the astral. When Chillandra—the Lunatac that bested me—encased me in that, she gloated that she would freeze me in time so that I would live with my failure forever, unable to do anything about my fate but lament it. She said I didn't deserve anything as quick and final as death." She looked away. "I couldn't live and couldn't die inside her ice tomb, but I did have consciousness, so I was still able to project. My astral body can affect the material plane in close proximity to my natural body, but its effectiveness diminishes over distance. I built this igloo over time to create a shelter for myself in case I was ever actually able to break free so that I might survive out here in his desolate ice land. That's also how I pulled Panthro from the wreckage of his ship. He didn't crash far from here."

"No," Lion-O confirmed. "It's just a short walk as long as it's not blizzard conditions out there."

"Which it quite often is," Snoelle said.

"If you could reach the astral, why didn't you use it to send a message to one of the Thundercats to get help before now?" Cheetara asked her.

Snoelle gave the cheetah a rueful look. "I couldn't. The astral is as vast as the mortal plane, and many unfriendly spirits traverse this part of it. As I said, the farther my spirit goes from my body, the weaker it becomes, and not being fully dead, on the astral plane I'm weaker than those fully crossed over. Until Panthro turned up, I never encountered a soul that I could trust to help me there."

"And in the mortal world, you couldn't because Thundera was too far," Tygra guessed, to which Snoelle nodded an affirmative.

"I was very lucky to have friends stumble upon me and rescue me. Thank you all," Snoelle said, and smiled at Panthro. "And thank you especially, Panthro, for returning the favor." She took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

Panthro grinned, and felt a warm flush rise to his cheeks that he was thankful were covered with gray fur that kept it hidden. "You're very welcome. Anytime."

She eyed him intently. "Do you remember your dream? Your astral body came all the way here."

Thinking of the erotic dream, he could not help but smile a little wider. "Real well. I remember it real well."

Snoelle echoed his smile with a sentiment left unsaid, and then closed her eyes again. "I'm still so tired."

"Then we'll take you home to Cat's Lair," Cheetara offered, and rose to her feet while Panthro scooped the exhausted snow leopard into his arms.

Tygra nodded. "Pumyra will take excellent care of you. Just ask Panthro."

"Hah," was the panther's only response as they started for the door.

"We're glad to have you with us," Lion-O told Snoelle earnestly. "As a fellow noble, you're welcome to stay with us as long as you wish."

"Thank you, my lord."

The Feliner II then carried all of the Thundercats from the ice moon home to New Thundera once and for all.

* * *

A Plundarrian moon away, Psiarik tossed and turned in his sleep. A recurring nightmare that had plagued him on and off since his youth returned that night in force. It had been some time since he had last had the dream, but once upon a time it had haunted him nearly every night.

_He was a teenager again, standing under the angry and accusing gazes of his mother and stepfather in the study of his family house. His young half-sister Psilina sat nearby crying. She had not meant to get him into so much trouble, and his stepfather had such a temper sometimes…_

"_Don't you feel any remorse for what you've done?" his stepfather yelled._

"_I didn't know she'd get scared," he protested. "I just wanted her to forget she saw me."_

"_Your stunt with mind control gave her nightmares! All so you could get away with sneaking out, and to do what? Get into trouble, it's all you ever do." He glowered down at him in contempt. _

"_I never wanted to scare her, I told you that!" Psiarik hollered back. "I didn't know it'd do that to her!"_

His stepfather slammed his fist against the wall, rattling the ornate gold-framed mirror on it. "What did you think manipulating her fears to make her do what you said would do?"

_Psiarik stared at the floor. "I didn't think it would be a big deal. I just wanted—"_

"_You just wanted, you just wanted," his stepfather repeated, glaring at him coldly. "Everything's about you, isn't it? So damn self-centered," he growled. "How many times do your mother and I have to tell you to get it to sink in that no son of ours will be a hypnotist? It's the profession of charlatans and con artists and scum."_

"_I'm not _your _son, like you like to point out all the time."_

"_No, but you'll damn well be respectable as long as you bear our family's name. I won't let you turn into a disgrace to your mother. Learn to control yourself, you spoiled little punk."_

"_What do you know?" Psiarik shouted back at his stepfather, burning at the sting in his words. It was true that he had deliberately manipulated Psilina to cover himself, but it was also true that he never intended her any harm. "You're a seer. Tell him, Mother. Tell him what it's like to just know and feel what others are thinking."_

_His mother Lurella turned toward him with a disapproving look in her eyes. "Knowing something about someone and using it are two different things, and you know _that_. If you had a shred of respect for yourself and our good name, you'd channel your abilities into something worthwhile instead of acting like someone like your father."_

_His stepfather nodded along with his mother. "You ought to be ashamed. You're more your father's son every day. Keep it up, and someday you'll wind up just like him. Is that what you want to be?"_

"_I'm _not _like him!" the younger psi protested vehemently. "I'm not! I said I was sorry and I didn't want to hurt her. What more do you want?" _

"_You to clean up your act, for one."_ _Lurella turned around staunchly. "Leave and think about what you've done."_

"_Fine!"_ _Doing as his mother and stepfather asked, Psiarik stormed out of the study, out of the house, out into the hills of his family's Third Moon property. Why were they always so unreasonable? Why did they act like they never did anything wrong, never made any mistakes? What gave them the right to think they were so perfect, that they were so much better than him? _

_Sulking and fuming as he traversed the hilly ground, he found a grassy knoll and sat on it, glaring in the direction of his familial manor. He heard a distant rumble, an ominous groan that seemed to be coming from all around, and he looked around, startled. The purple sky of Dasanalith was varying shades of red and orange, splotched with black and gray. It never looked that way, even at sunset, and suddenly he had the sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong._

_Before he could ponder what it was, an ear-shattering explosion echoed throughout the hills, and when he turned to see what had caused it, his blood ran cold. The mountain on the far side of the valley in the distance had exploded into a ball of flame. Ash and fumes filled the air, and he fell to the ground choking and gagging. The ground around him began to shake again, more violently than he had ever experienced, and he clutched at the grass in vain as his eyes began to water. _

_There was another crack, that time in the direction of his home. He turned and to his horror, the ground split open and he saw the structure begin to quake and fall apart. "No!" he shouted fruitlessly as one wall collapsed, then another, and the whole manor fell in on itself and disappeared into the chasm, vanishing forever. _

_He cried out again, but it was too late. The ground beneath him went still, and the acrid smell of smoke and sulfur remained on the air while rumbles and sirens sounded from far away. The realization that his family was gone and that he would never see any of them again began to sink in, and his earlier anger at them seemed suddenly trivial and meaningless._

Then, his familiar dream changed from the terrible memory that replayed the day the disasters had taken his family from him to a new and more sinister nightmare.

_Psiarik was an adult again, and now he stood in an unfamiliar place that he somehow knew to be New Thundera. A red-haired lion Thundercat was there viciously wielding the Sword of Omens. Selene faced off with him with the MoonSaber, her gentle face stained with tears and the blood of her brother, who lay motionless on the ground nearby. A rat Mutant was with them, seemingly ready to slaughter them both with his own sword, the deadly double-bladed Sword of Plundarr. In the distance Psiarik could see two cloaked figures emanating an evil as strong as could be, watching the scene unfold with cruel amusement. He knew the danger his wife was in, and called out to Selene. _

_But he called too late, and the three swords met and clashed. Lightning crashed all around as the cloaked figures began chanting in a foreign and ancient tongue. Each of the mystical swords joined into a weapon of unfathomable strength and an unstoppable destructive force pulled the very life force from Selene, the Thundercat, and the Mutant until all three fell to the ground dead. Psiarik rushed toward Selene, but the ground began to tremble, and the earthquake knocked him down so that he could not move. He watched helplessly as a chasm opened beneath the fallen heroes of each world and the ground swallowed them up, leaving him alone to bear witness to the darkness and devastation._

"_Not again!" he screamed. It was then that he saw he was not alone. The chanting figures grew larger, taking hold of the weapon, while the watchful face of his father appeared above him. Alluro said only one word. "Destiny." _

_Psiarik turned away, unable to bear it any longer. "You can't stop what is destined to be," a disembodied voice called out as he closed his eyes and willed it all away. "When the past becomes the present and the ancient struggle is set in motion, only what seems impossible can stop the inevitable." _

Drenched in a cold sweat, Psiarik sprang back into consciousness. Panicked, he looked to his side and saw, much to his relief, Selene sleeping peacefully in bed with him. He noticed then that he was still trembling and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just a stupid dream," he muttered, and lay back down against the pillows. He closed his eyes and attempted to sleep again, but that proved impossible. The dream had been too vivid and unnerving to allow him any rest.

A few minutes later he gave up entirely and got up. Slipping into a robe he made his way through the darkened corridors of the MoonTower to a room where he could pour himself a glass of Plundarrian whiskey to soothe his nerves.

He was unaware that both his dream and his actions in the waking world were being watched from beyond. A world away, in a black pyramid, Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living smiled with unashamed delight.


	4. Illusions - Part One

Two days had passed since Panthro and the others had saved Snoelle from her icy prison and taken her back to Cat's Lair. WilyKat, knowing only a brief summary of what had transpired in his absence from New Thundera while he had been on Third Earth duty, breathed a sigh of relief as the Feliner entered New Thundera's airspace. "It's about time I got here." He had been anxious to get home and meet the mysterious new Thundercat, as well as see his sister and the other Thundercats after his six-week stay guarding Third Earth's Cat's Lair.

Generally WilyKat did not mind the stints on Third Earth. They made for a nice change of pace and even though he was no longer a kitten, he held fond memories of the place and the adventures he had there in his youth. He and WilyKit had made many friends amongst the Third Earthers and he enjoyed the opportunity to visit with them. Besides, he had not been without Thundercat company. The first three weeks he had been there, Pumyra and her daughter Pumari had been in the middle of a stay at the Tower of Omens, and after they returned to New Thundera Lynx-O arrived for a stay of guardianship. WilyKat knew that Bengali, who had taken his place in the Cat's Lair, would enjoy the time to catch up with his old friend.

Still, WilyKat was glad to be back given all the excitement he had missed. The ride back had been unusually long, full of meteor showers and other interstellar travel annoyances, and he was looking forward to the comforts of home. Most of all he looked forward to catching up with WilyKit. Even though they were both grown, the twins remained close and felt a sense of loss when separated for long periods.

As the ground beneath him started to come into view, an alarm beeped on the Feliner's console. "What's going on?" he wondered aloud. The readings indicated that an energy field was surrounding the craft, and he wondered why the systems had not warned him that he was flying into it. "All that cosmic debris must've knocked the sensors out of whack," he grumbled. "Great. Guess I have a job for Panthro when I land." He focused on steering out of the energy field when a loud and familiar cry out of nowhere startled him. The alarmed WilyKat looked up, and he could have sworn that he saw his sister's image in the glass of the Feliner's hatch, looking painfully burned and scarred. "Help!" he heard her shriek, just before the image vanished.

"WilyKit?" he repeated in disbelief. His gut instinct urged him to help, but how could what he had seen be anything but imagination? He blinked and looked again at the glass, and sure enough, there was nothing there but the sky and the sparks of the energy field that caused his controls to act up. The Thundercat shook his head. "I've been flying way too long."

The sound of WilyKit's panicked voice echoed shrilly through the Feliner's cockpit again. "I'm down here! Help me!"

That time WilyKat could not deny that what he heard was too real and vivid to be merely imagination. He cast a worried glance at the ground below, and saw no sign of other Thundercat crafts, but still felt compelled to investigate further. "Okay," he said aloud, mostly to reassure himself. "I'll check it out." As he landed, the frown on his face deepened. Though he and WilyKit were close, their connection had never been so overtly psychic before, and he had an unsettling thought that she must be in real grave danger if her spirit had cried out like that. _She looked awfully burned when you saw her… _

The Feliner landed and he disembarked. The bleak surroundings were familiar to him, and a moment later he realized why as he searched the landscape for any sign of WilyKit. The ruins of Mumm-Ra's pyramid loomed to the west. _No wonder this place gives me the creeps,_ WilyKat thought, pushing aside unpleasant memories of the undead demon priest. His gaze lingered on the onyx ruins. _Mumm-Ra was defeated years ago, so he couldn't have harmed her… right?_

He turned away from the pyramid and began to walk, looking for any trace of his sister's presence. He was mid-step when he heard a shriek just like the one he had heard while flying the Feliner, coming from the direction of the pyramid.

_Why would she go in there?_

"Maybe I ought to call the Lair first and find out what they last heard, and at least let them know where I am." He turned back toward the Feliner, but had only gone three paces when he heard the scream again, blood-curdlingly loud and unmistakably WilyKit.

The pain he heard in her cry immediately pushed all pragmatism aside. "By the Eye, there's no time for that!" With only concern and fear for his sister in mind, he immediately broke into a run toward the black pyramid. "Hang on, Kit, I'm coming!"

The male Thundercat twin was panting from exertion from his sprint when he reached the entrance to Mumm-Ra's tomb ruins. He was able to navigate the "abandoned" structure with no trouble, and once he was far enough in that there was no natural light, he cracked a luminous pellet against the wall to create a small globe of light that would work as a makeshift flashlight for the time being. "WilyKit!" he called ahead into the darkness. "I heard you screaming. Are you all right? Answer me!"

Silence was his only response.

"WilyKit!" he called again, that time more loudly. "Are you here? Are you hurt? Where are you?" The Thundercat continued to shout out to her, but heard nothing but the ominous whisper of the wind in the ancient chambers. _This is very strange,_ the worried WilyKat thought. _If she's in so much trouble that she isn't able to hear my calls, then how come I could hear her screams all the way outside? And why can't hear anything now?_

He rounded a corner and found himself in the room he wanted to be in least: the heart of Mumm-Ra's pyramid, the chamber that held his sarcophagus and cauldron. Immediately he noticed that it did not seem as abandoned as it should have been. There was an intangible sense of life, of energy, in the room, and no coat of dust, grime, or debris on the statues or floor that one would expect to find in a place that had been unoccupied for twelve years. A faint glow and the eerie sound of bubbling fluid confirmed his uneasy suspicions, and his stomach twisted into a knot at the realization.

"Oh no," he whispered. "It can't be."

"Oh yes it can."

The cold and sinister female voice that answered was not that of his sister, but the figure that bore her likeness in the awful charred and tortured vision he had seen in the Feliner that emerged from the shadows behind him was.

"K—Kit?" the confused twin stammered as the thing that appeared to be WilyKit lifted her arms and knocked him to the floor with a painful blast of energy.

She laughed as she stood over him, a cruel and wicked laugh unlike any he had ever heard from his sister before. "Guess again, WilyKat," she sneered back at him. "I'll give a hint. I'm not your sister, but I had these same scars and burns on my body for a long time thanks to a shot you fired from one of your Thundercat vehicles almost fourteen years ago now."

His mind reeled as he tried to reconcile the wretched mockery of his sister speaking to him in such a way to what it was that she said. _Fourteen years, who or what did I shoot fourteen years ago that would've been burned like that? Someone connected to Mumm-Ra? _

Wincing as he felt his skin burn from the energy field he realized he was trapped in, he suddenly remembered a battle back on Third Earth that he and a few of the other Thundercats in the Thunderstrike had joined answering a cat signal. Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, Pumyra, and Bengali had been trapped by Mumm-Ra and some woman—a dark bride or partner, they had later told him after it was said and done—and oddly the undead duo had also captured the Lunatacs at the time. His friends had told him that the partner had once been one of them and held a grudge, and Mumm-Ra and she had been about to encase them all in lava when he and Lynx-O had arrived. From his pod in the Thunderstrike, WilyKat had fired a shot at Mumm-Ra and the demoness that knocked her into the heart of the volcano. _But how could she have survived that? I saw her hit the lava…_

Reading his thoughts from the recognition and horror on his features, she leaned down and intensified the burn of her telekinetic force field to match the flare of the hatred she felt. "Thought I was dead and gone, did you? Well, you were wrong," she hissed as she shed the illusion of his sister and morphed back into her unnatural Lunatac form. "I'm here to give you and your friends a little payback, alive and healed and brought back by my dear partner Mumm-Ra. We're going to destroy you all, for good this time."

WilyKat tried to move, but found the force weighing down on him and the stabbing shocks of energy surrounding him too overwhelming. It seemed like a net that drew tighter and sizzled against his skin more with each movement. "But Mumm-Ra's dead. Lion-O defeated him," he argued, his dread multiplying even as he said the words. He supposed a part of him had hoped for a moment that it was just her and not Mumm-Ra as well that had come back.

"Dead?" Torlei repeated. "_Un_dead, yes. Defeated, perhaps. But 'dead' in as you mean it? Hardly. Since I don't have a dictionary to give you, allow me to define the term 'ever-living' for you, Thundercat. It means 'immortal'. In simple terms that a kitty like you can understand, it means that he, and I for that matter, can't be killed. There's nothing you can do to be rid of us, no matter how many times you sic ancient book guardians on us or shoot us into volcanoes." She held up a hand, sparking with a globe of malevolent telekinetic energy. "It's a shame Mumm-Ra's not here right now to see the pathetic look on your face. Perhaps I'll have to preserve it so he can savor it before I do anything _too_ permanent to you."

She then thrust the energy globe at the trapped Thundercat, quadrupling the force upon him and making him scream in agony as shocks coursed through his body. He felt himself rise into the air and heavy shackles close around his wrists as Torlei called to her masters, "Ancient Spirits of Evil, hold this Thundercat helpless and weak!" A dizzying feeling of fatigue washed over him as the chains hoisted him limply into the air, and he realized grimly that his binds were at least in part Thundrainium. That and a prayer for help were his last conscious thoughts before he closed his eyes.

* * *

Back within the majestic walls of Cat's Lair, Panthro made his way toward the guest suite that now served as Snoelle's quarters. Lion-O had given them to her as soon as Pumyra gave her the okay to be released from the medical bay recovery room. Despite her long imprisonment in the magical ice, it appeared that there were no lasting ill effects on her health from it. The other Thundercats had all been told her story, and Lion-O had even prepared a statement to be released to the Thunderian people celebrating the return of the snow leopard Thundercat to their fold.

Naturally, she received a kind and warm reception from the people of New Thundera as well as the Thundercats themselves, and Snoelle was equally honored to be so readily accepted into their ranks. She thanked each of them for their kindness and hospitality, and swore to serve Lord Lion-O as she had his grandfather before her imprisonment. Still, being freed and back amongst the Thundercats was not without sadness for Snoelle. Learning about the destruction of the old Thundera, the sad fate of her clan, and the fact that she was very likely the last living snow leopard in existence was hard news to bear. New Thundera was different in many ways from the world she once knew, both with generational and cultural differences, and it would take time for her to adjust to it.

Panthro had been to see her a number of times, but had kept his visits brief and respected her need for space. He hoped that he would soon have a chance to speak with her alone more intimately, but given the buzz that her arrival had stirred, he knew that might be a while off yet. That was confirmed when he reached her chamber and found that Lion-O and Snarf were there with her, having what sounded like an interesting conversation.

Snarf bounced up on his tail and waved to the panther. "Rowr, hey Panthro, come on in. Snoelle was telling us about Lord Katan and some of the stuff they did when they were in power, snarf, snarf."

"Hi," he waved back. "Sure, count me in." He pulled an empty chair closer to where they were gathered.

"Nice to see you, Panthro," Snoelle greeted him with a smile.

While Panthro smiled back at her in a way that both Lion-O and Snarf noticed to be quite friendly and charmed, Lion-O nodded in Panthro's direction. "We were just asking Snoelle about the mission that led to her capture on the ice moon."

The snow leopard nodded. "Yes. I'd been asked to get the MoonSaber from King Mallar. Lord Katan feared that he, like the Mutants, might view the ancient Incantation of Destruction as a means to conquer all of Thundera, Plundarr, and its Moons. Lunatacs are ruthless like their planetside brethren and although the thought of using such a terrible prophecy is something that we as Thundercats would never consider, it was not unthinkable that either of those warlike peoples would not sacrifice some of their own in an effort to rule over the domains of all three mighty swords." She folded her hands and frowned as she thought about the past. "The notion of stealing the swords belonging to the Mutant and Lunatac people did not sit well with Lord Katan, as thievery is something we as Thundercats hold in contempt, but it was deemed the lesser evil in the face of what horrors could be unleashed if the Incantation of Destruction was used."

Snoelle paused and met the gazes of Panthro, Lion-O, and Snarf for a moment before continuing. "I was able to infiltrate King Mallar's palace, an adventure in and of itself, and managed to find and take the MoonSaber and get back out. Unfortunately, my luck didn't hold out and their security caught me as I was on my way off the grounds. I wouldn't be surprised if the MoonSaber itself warned the lunar king that I'd taken it. I know the Eye of Thundera has such powers, after all."

"The Eye of Thundera has a strong connection to me," Lion-O confirmed.

"Anyhow," Snoelle continued, "once they were aware of what happened, their sorceress Chillandra, Mistress of the Cold, chased me. As you might guess from her name, she was an ice Lunatac, highly skilled amongst her people and a shaman skilled in elemental magic. She shot my ship down over the ice moon, likely hoping that I'd perish in the crash or in the harsh environment of her home moon if I managed to survive. Being a snow leopard I fared better than other Thundercats would on the ice moon, but I was ill prepared for a fight like that, especially after a crash landing, and she overpowered me. She imprisoned me in the magical ice, like I told you back when you freed me, and left me there to ponder my failure and fate."

Lion-O listened to her account with interest. "Do you know what Chillandra did with the MoonSaber after that? We don't know much about the Lunatacs' sword. In fact," he admitted with a rueful smile, "I didn't know at all about it until recently."

"I'd heard of it, but only a little," Snarf added, while Panthro gave a nod also.

"We know more about the Mutants' Sword of Plundarr, but that's because it's turned up in our enemies' hands far more recently."

Snoelle frowned and cast her eyes downward. "Chillandra didn't say what she was going to do with the MoonSaber other than to boast that me and 'my kind' would never get our 'dirty paws' on it. She took it with her when she left me." She fell silent, and then faced her new friends with a sad look. "And my failing to get the MoonSaber in turn led to the demise of my clan."

"What? No! They died when Thundera was lost. That wasn't your fault," Panthro exclaimed.

"Snarf, snarf, why would you think that?" Snarf eyed her quizzically. "It's like we told you, Thundera's explosion was caused by the Sword of Plundarr, not the MoonSaber."

Panthro nodded in assent with the snarf. "The Mutants lost the Sword of Plundarr when Lord Jaga—the acting Thundercat Lord who took the mantle when Lord Claudus was blinded—defeated Ratilla. Jaga tried to destroy the Sword of Plundarr and keep it out of the Mutants' hands to protect Thundera, but it didn't work."

"No," Lion-O said in a regretful tone. "Unfortunately it destroyed us by tearing Thundera apart."

Snoelle closed her eyes in sadness. "Such a tragedy. I can only imagine the burden Lord Jaga must carry on his conscience in the astral." She looked up again and that time faced Lion-O. "Still, when I didn't come back from the ice moon, my people blamed the lion leadership of the Thundercats for my loss. If only I'd been successful…"

"Don't think that way, Snoelle. You'll drive yourself crazy. We've all got regrets." Panthro put a hand on her shoulder.

She looked at Lion-O. "I failed my Lord and my mission. You would be within your rights to strip me of my title, given that my failure led my people to cling to that grudge all the way to their deaths."

Snarf bounced up on his tail. "Now you're just being ridiculous!" he scolded. "You did your best and no one can ask for more than that."

"You're very kind to say so, loyal Snarf."

"And he's right," Lion-O asserted. "I understand that you feel responsibility to your clan, Snoelle, but their decision to stay was their choice. Not yours, not my grandfather's, not anyone's but theirs." He met her eyes earnestly. "I'll never strip a Thundercat of the title that hasn't betrayed the Code of Thundera as long as I live. You were loyal to my grandfather to the end and you've been nothing but honorable and honest with us. I see a Thundercat that follows the Code, not one that's broken it."

Unshed tears of emotion glistened in the snow leopard's eyes. "Thank you, Lord Lion-O."

"You're welcome." His voice softened and he relaxed, leaning back in his chair.

Snarf padded to the edge of Snoelle's bed. "Now, let's put that behind us and figure out what to do from here. Now that we know this MoonSaber exists, and what it could do if matched up with the Sword of Omens and the Sword of Plundarr, maybe we should find out where it is and, rowr, who has it?"

"I'd presume that the Lunatacs have it," Panthro said, only then removing his hand from Snoelle's shoulder with a gentle squeeze. "It was last seen with this Chillandra as far as we know, and none of the Lunatacs we've run into have used it against us, so maybe it's back with the Lunatac royalty or Chillandra's kin."

Lion-O frowned thoughtfully. "If the Lunatac rulers have it, they aren't using it in aggressive moves toward other worlds. If they'd used it against the Mutants of Plundarr, odds are they would've struck at us as well, and no Lunatac raiders have turned up on New Thundera with a weapon like that."

"What about the prophecy and the Incantation of Destruction?" Snoelle asked Lion-O. "Do you think we should take precautions against such a possibility?"

"Perhaps. It couldn't hurt to find out who has the MoonSaber and where it is. All three swords are needed for that prophecy according to the Book of Omens. We have the Sword of Omens and know it's well protected in our custody. The Sword of Plundarr hasn't been seen in years, though."

Snarf let out a brrr of worry. "And we know who last had _that_, and it wasn't a Mutant."

"Who did?" asked Snoelle.

"An undead mage named Mumm-Ra that came from Third Earth, followed us here, and made a general pain in the backside out of himself to us for years," Panthro told her. "But we finally defeated him once and for all well over ten years ago now."

Lion-O strode over the window and studied the New Thundera skyline in the distance. "But Mumm-Ra did have the Sword of Plundarr. If he exists in any form anywhere, it's possible he still has it, or that his ancient evil spirit masters do. It's not out of the realm of possibility that it could turn up in the hands of another of their disciples or that they might see fit to return it to the Mutants to instigate more fighting between our worlds. Evil thrives on conflict like that."

Panthro rose to his feet. "And I can't disagree that Mumm-Ra's turned up before alive and well when we thought he was gone. Still, it's never been this long."

"I'll talk to the others and see what they think," Lion-O decided, and turned from the window. "Thank you for your input, Snoelle."

"Of course, my Lord."

"Please, call me Lion-O," the lion insisted. "We're pretty informal among each other here."

Snoelle smiled. "I'm sorry; it's habit… Lion-O."

He echoed the smile and gave a wave to her and Panthro in parting, and left. Snarf said a quick goodbye as well and followed Lion-O out, leaving Panthro and Snoelle alone together for the time being. A companionable silence settled over them for a few moments until Snoelle ended it with a curious statement.

"There's another question I've got on my mind that I'm not quite sure how to ask."

"Ask away," Panthro said amiably.

"You, well…" Her eyes darted downward as her voice faltered a bit searching for the right words, until she simply came out with it. "When I met you in astral form, especially in your dreams, we were… intimate." A knowing look lit up Panthro's eyes and Snoelle flushed beneath her fur. "I hope you're not… I mean, you aren't disappointed meeting me in the flesh, are you?"

Taken aback by her words, Panthro exclaimed, "No way! Meeting you a disappointment? How on Thundera could I be disappointed?" He leaned closer to her and tipped her chin upward to lock gazes with him. "You took my breath away. You're all I've been able to think about since you saved me and since we saved you. And you're beautiful—even more in reality than in any dream."

Snoelle curled white fingertips over the panther's strong forearm, deeply touched and flattered by his words. "You feel that way even though… even though you know that I was only on the ice moon to save you as I did because I failed my last Thundercat mission?"

"Hey, I thought we went over this already," Panthro chided gently. "If the Lord of the Thundercats himself won't hear any nonsense about you not being good enough because you had a tough mission and got ambushed by an ice witch who got the better of you, do you think I'm gonna put up with it?" He shook his head. "Not gonna happen. You may not have noticed, but I'm a stubborn cat and you'll have an even harder time making me think you're anything but a heroine that went on a tough mission that nobody but a damned good Thundercat would've been up to even trying. Nobody's perfect, Snoelle." He chortled. "At least you can say you wound up in the middle of nowhere on the ice moon because a Lunatac shot you down. I forgot to think about whether I cold-proofed my ship when I took it there on a test run and crashed. Now _that's _embarrassing."

A slight smile tugged at the snow leopard's lips in spite of herself. "Just a minor error in judgment."

"One that had an astral ghost pulling my chops out of the freezer," he retorted with a wry smile, noting that her touch now felt both real and warm as her fingertips brushed against his skin. "So maybe we should both cut ourselves some slack, huh?"

"Perhaps so." They lapsed into silence briefly as they looked deeply into one another's eyes until Snoelle spoke again. "I had to wait fifty years to find someone to rescue me, but I'm glad it was a fine cat like you. How did I get so lucky?"

"You saved my dangblasted butt," Panthro replied, and they shared a moment of warm laughter.

"So," Snoelle said with a sparkle in her eye, "how vividly do you remember that dream?"

Panthro felt a renewed rush of desire and drew her closer to him. "Almost every detail."

Snoelle closed her eyes as their lips brushed, almost in a kiss but not quite. "You're a very passionate man."

"You're an exciting woman," Panthro replied, and completed the near kiss into a full-fledged one.

The pair lingered in the embrace for several moments, enjoying the silence and the comfort of being in one another's arms. "It's been so long since I've had a lover's touch," Snoelle murmured. "Even before Chillandra captured me, as a Thundercat I was too preoccupied, too busy, to ever fall…"

"It's been a long time for me too. Too long." Panthro studied her face, committing it to memory in every detail.

"Maybe that's why fate brought us together," mused Snoelle. "We're kindred spirits, aren't we, cut from the same cloth deep down despite being from different times and different clans? Do you sense that too?" She smiled. "It's not any cat that I'd seduce in a dream."

The panther let out a warm chuckle. "I'm not complaining," he said, before lapsing into a more serious tone. "But yes, I do know what you mean. I don't have a sixth sense, but I know what I can see and feel and everything about this feels right." The way his heart pounded as he spoke echoed his feeling.

"Yes. In more ways than one, I feel like I've finally come home." She sealed the words by initiating another kiss, and the couple remained in the embrace for some time.

* * *

Far off on a more bleak part of New Thundera, Mumm-Ra materialized on the dais beside his cauldron in the black pyramid. He was pleased with what he had learned spying on the Lunatacs of the Third Moon's MoonTower. Without paying particular attention to anything else in his abode or concerning himself with the presence of his partner, he summoned a vision of the Thundercats of Cat's Lair in the cauldron's waters to see if there was any information from there to be gleaned.

The conversation that Lion-O, Panthro, Snarf, and Snoelle had in the snow leopard's quarters replayed for him. The appearance of a new Thundercat intrigued and annoyed him at the same time. The presence of more felines, especially Thundercats, was not a particularly pleasant notion, but the circumstances were ironic considering that the MoonSaber the newly recovered snow leopard had tried to take so many years ago had also resurfaced back on the Moons. "So the lost snow leopard Thundercat still lives, and she's returned to Cat's Lair. Perhaps this can be used to my advantage."

"Mumm-Ra, darling, surely you have better things to do than spy on those miserable felines all day?" Torlei emerged from the shadows on the opposite end of the chamber across the pool, a devious smirk on her harsh features.

Mumm-Ra lifted his gaze from the mystical waters and faced his bride. "The Thundercats have saved one of their number from the past, a snow leopard that was trapped in magical ice on Plundarr's ice moon by a Lunatac."

"A kitty reunion. How touching," Torlei said sarcastically.

"That's not the important part," Mumm-Ra replied, unimpressed by her cavalier attitude. "Her story is one of interest to us, and combined with what I learned observing the Lunatacs on the Third Moon, provides the perfect means for us to rise and rule all of New Thundera, Plundarr, and its Moons now that the Ancient Spirits of Evil have restored us to power. I can finally see the Thundercats destroyed, and you will get your revenge on Luna, your brother, and rest of that wretched crew of Lunatacs from Third Earth."

Torlei hissed in contempt at the memory. "Oh yes, I ache for the chance to even the score with _them _after what they did to me."

Smirking, Mumm-Ra walked toward his ever-living partner. "Ah yes, but at least you've recovered from that, and they still don't know that you survived that fall into the volcano and were merely laying in wait for the right moment all these years." His eyes glowed a malevolent red. "The element of surprise will be a nice bonus."

"A surprise to some of them, anyway," she said with a dark laugh.

Immediately Mumm-Ra grew suspicious, and more than a little irritated at the hint that she had acted without him. "What?"

Her eyes lit up with scarlet excitement. "I captured us a little pet, darling. The Thundercat they call 'WilyKat'. He was a boy when I last saw the Thundercats, but oh, time flies, and he's grown now." The smug smile of satisfaction on her lips made it quite clear that she was pleased with her handiwork. "They don't even know he's missing yet. I waited for you to return to decide what exactly we should do with him."

Mumm-Ra's own eyes blazed at her announcement, but more with indignation at being denied the chance to strike at his enemies first and in apprehension that her hastiness might have compromised his plans. "Is he contained?"

"Of course," she assured him, ignoring the bluster in his tone. "He's unconscious and bound in Thundrainium. He's not going anywhere." She gestured to a dark corner of the chamber where a torch blazed to life with unnatural fire, illuminating the area where WilyKat hung in the shackles.

After observing the captive Thundercat for a moment and deeming him and Torlei's actions in capturing him not a threat to his plans, he relaxed. "Good. We'll keep him there for now. He may serve a purpose later." He took her hand and compelled her attention through their dark bond. "Now, I will tell you my plan to destroy our enemies and take domain over their worlds."

"How?"

"As one who was once a Lunatac in life, you may find it interesting to know that the sword of your people, the MoonSaber, has been discovered."

"The MoonSaber?" the surprised Torlei repeated. "It's been missing for decades. King Mallar went to the grave with the secret of its whereabouts after he had his icewalker sorceress hide it… if he even really knew where she left it."

"It was found on the ice moon by miners. Apparently this Chillandra buried it all those years ago. Anyhow, it's been found and returned to the custody of the Lunatac royalty on the Third Moon of Plundarr."

Torlei's lips curled into a pensive frown. "King Lunaro must be quite old by now. He wasn't young when we were run off the moons."

"King Lunaro is dead. His son and daughter rule the Moons now. Inexperienced and young, both of them. The queen is weak and naïve and the prince impulsive and overconfident." The ancient mage grinned malevolently. "They will be easy to manipulate into fulfilling the prophecy of their own doom, as will Lion-O and the Thundercats and those miserable Mutants."

"The ancient prophecy that King Mallar feared when he ordered Chillandra to hide the MoonSaber lest anyone try to steal it again, you mean?" guessed Torlei.

Mumm-Ra nodded. "When all three of the ancient swords—The Sword of Omens, the Sword of Plundarr, and the MoonSaber—are used on each other and the Incantation of Destruction recited, a terrible power greater than the three swords together will be unleashed, and the victor strong enough to withstand its power will rule all that remains. All we must do is convince the Lunatac Silvian to attack Lion-O and the rest of the Thundercats, and instigate the Mutant Ratar-O to attack both groups with the Sword of Plundarr while we recite the Incantation of Destruction as they fight. The three of them and their miserable people will suffer the destruction while you and I harness the power of the combined swords to rule what remains in ultimate and undisputed power."

"I thought you had the Sword of Plundarr, not that fat rat Ratar-O."

"Yes," Mumm-Ra said, "but that is easily remedied. The Mutant Warrior King will be all too eager to reclaim the sword his ancestor lost to Jaga and believe himself in my debt for returning it to him. He will do whatever we ask without an inkling that it takes him to his own demise."

Torlei let out a wicked cackle. "And you get to see your longtime enemy Lion-O do himself in, thinking he's protecting his people."

"While you enjoy the pleasure of witnessing a relation of Luna's play a key role in the Lunatacs' destruction." His eyes glowed red with delight. "You will be pleased to know that she, and your other worthless former companions, are in the Lunar royalty's company right now. The former king might have detested your once leader and her associates, but the queen and prince embrace her as a lost relation."

"Sickening," Torlei hissed in contempt. "They must be fools indeed to think Luna worthy company."

Mumm-Ra enjoyed watching his bride's anger bubble to the surface at the mention of those she hated so. "Not only her, but your dear brother as well. Did you know he had a bastard son by some Lunatac before he left the Moons?"

The revelation caught the undead Lunatac off guard. "What?"

"A psi woman bore his child, presumably not long after your old crew fled the Third Moon. Her son—your nephew—not only lives among the royalty, but married their queen."

Torlei's lips curled back in a bemused sneer. "Is that so? My, King Lunaro and his prissy little wife must be railing in the astral about that. A lunar royal heir married to a non-lunar, and a bastard with a criminal for a father at that? Ironic, considering my brother took up with that girl simply because her family was Fourth Moon nobility. His child got the privilege he sought for himself but was denied."

"No longer," Mumm-Ra said carefully, knowing that what he would say next would needle his bride into a fit. "He has been welcomed among them along with Luna and the others. In the end, only _you_ were denied the pardon for the crimes of the Lunatacs of Plundarr on the Moons."

Mumm-Ra's machinations worked like a charm, and Torlei's temper flared like lightning in a stormy sky. "On the contrary. In the end, only _I_ will have it all, because they'll all be dead. My traitorous brother and his spawn, his wench of a boss, and the whole rotting lot of them! Dead while I—and you, of course," she added as an afterthought, "gloat over their accursed bodies."

"Of course." He did not bother to hide the sarcasm in his tone as he took Torlei's hands and looked into the churning waters of the cauldron with her. It bubbled with images of the Thundercats, the MoonTower, and a complacent Ratar-O on Plundarr. The visions distorted and swirled faster and faster into a whirlpool, until they were one magnificent light that simulated a brilliant explosion. When the light faded, only Mumm-Ra and Torlei's reflections remained, a unified pair of unfathomable malignance. "In the end, only we will remain to rule in evil."

* * *

Seated at a table in the MoonTower's library with a pile of books between them, Frostor and Luna were in the midst of a discussion. The two were talking about history, something each of them held an interest in. In the short time she had been at the MoonTower Luna seemed more relaxed than she had been in years. Although their initial meeting had not gone smoothly, since then she had come to like the frosty Governor General. She found his dry wit entertaining and was flattered by the odd sort of respect he seemed to have for her and her shady past. While she did not get the impression he approved of her criminal lifestyle, he did not outwardly condemn her for it and instead only asked questions pertaining to it.

The two Lunatacs had been discussing the potential of the newly recovered MoonSaber when Psiarik walked in and joined them. The morning sunlight filtered in brightly through the room's windows, but the psi's mood was darker than it had been in months. The previous night had been the third night in a row he had endured the miserable nightmare, and each time it seemed even more graphic and vivid than the last. It was costing him precious sleep and rest, but Psiarik did not think he could stand the vision of Selene dying and the world ending while he could do nothing but helplessly watch even one more time.

Frostor looked up when he entered. "You look terrible," the icewalker remarked.

"I feel like it," Psiarik responded, not bothering to take offense to the truth. "It's getting so I can't sleep at all anymore without having a damned nightmare."

"What kind of nightmares?" the ever-nosy Luna asked, and set down the book she had been browsing. An inscription on the cover of the leather-bound tome immediately caught Psiarik's attention, and what color remained on his already pale-from-insomnia face drained from it.

"What's going on with you?" Frostor asked, his rough voice holding a note of concern.

Psiarik pointed to the book in front of Luna. "That inscription," he said, staring at it as if it would leap out and burn him. "'When the past becomes the present and the ancient struggle is set in motion, only what seems impossible can stop the inevitable.'"

"Oh, that?" Luna noted with a cynical chortle. "The ancient prophets got a kick out of being cryptic."

"Well, what fun would it have been for them to say anything outright?" Frostor quipped before returning his attention to Psiarik, who failed to see anything humorous in it.

"It's a prophecy?" the psi asked, swallowing a feeling of dread. "I hear that in my dreams. Some voice shouts it out right before I wake up. I don't remember hearing it anywhere else though."

Any remaining levity left Frostor's tone. "That inscription is a part of the prophecy of the end of our world, part of the legend of the swords. Are you saying you've been dreaming about that?"

Psiarik sighed and slumped into one of the chairs. "What can I say? I'm a depressing kind of guy."

"I'm being serious," Frostor said, switching into the seat beside him. "You've been dreaming psychic images at the same time we find the MoonSaber? Tell us everything you remember about the dream right now. It's important. You should've said something sooner."

"How was I supposed to know that?" Psiarik protested. He looked from Frostor to Luna, who eyed him with the same intensity that the icewalker did, as he described the nightmares as requested. "Anyway, part of it's a nightmare I've had long before that sword turned up. I've had it ever since the Thundera explosion disasters hit and my family was killed in the eruption quakes. The first part is like a miserable replay of that, like it wasn't bad enough the first time," he groused, "and then it gets even worse. That's the newer part, the part that's keeping me up."

Psiarik closed his eyes and rubbed the side of his forehead while resting his other arm on the table. "After my house falls into the chasm, the scenery changes and I'm on Thundera—at least I think it's Thundera, I've never been there but for some reason I think it is. In the dream Silvian is already dead and Selene has the MoonSaber. She's fighting some red-haired lion Thundercat and a rat Mutant who have what I guess are their worlds' swords. There's this chanting in the background, and others are there too, but I think it comes from these two dark figures. I can't really see much about them, but they're creepy, in that way that makes your skin crawl just looking at them. Then there's always this big crash of lighting where the swords twist and pull together into a huge new sword, bigger than any of us. Selene, the Thundercat, and the Mutant all fall dead. As soon as I try to say or do anything, an earthquake stops me and I can't move, just like during the Thundera explosion disasters with my family." He looked up and met Frostor's eyes. "Then my father… you know, Alluro, is standing there and he says something like 'destiny' that doesn't really make any sense, and then I hear someone shout out that line about the impossible stopping the inevitable just before I wake up."

"Alluro is predicting the end of the world now?" Luna said dubiously. "He's never had seer powers before. Half the time he can't even see past his own ego."

"Not Alluro, it's someone else who says that. I don't know who. I don't recognize the voice," Psiarik clarified.

Frostor nodded as he mulled over the account of the psi man's dream. "There are some compelling signs in that, and not good ones. The prophecy of the swords involves each of the ancient swords and their rightful holders. The Sword of Omens has been held by lion Thundercats for generations for the most part, and as Vultureman said, if Mumm-Ra doesn't have the Sword of Plundarr, it would belong to the Mutant Warrior King, which would be Ratar-O of Plundarr." He frowned. "And though we gave guardianship of the MoonSaber to Silvian, if he was dead, Selene would—"

"Yeah, but he's alive, and so is she, and I'd like to think it'll stay that way," Psiarik snapped at the ice general, and then sighed again. "Sorry. Like I said, that nightmare has me on edge and I don't like thinking about it, much less talking about it. Selene said she thought it was just my subconscious playing out unresolved issues about my father turning up out of nowhere."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Frostor said.

Giving Psiarik a pointed look, Luna said, "Alluro told me that you two still haven't spoken."

"That's because I have nothing to say to him," Psiarik answered the lunar woman coldly. "All I have in common with him is DNA, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Why?" asked Luna. "I know he's not a model father by any stretch—the gods know, I've put up with him for years and he annoys me at least twice a day—but I do think he'd genuinely like to know you. He'll probably accuse me of butting in by saying this, but it's the truth. He's got too much pride to approach you flat out given how you've made your feelings known."

Frostor chortled and gave the psi a knowing look. "Hmm, too much pride, I wonder if that's in the DNA?"

Psiarik glowered at Frostor. "Shut up."

"If there were any shrinks around in this town, you'd make a perfect head case for them," Prince Silvian remarked sarcastically as he, his sister, Chilla, and Vultureman joined them in the library.

"No one asked you, and it's rude to eavesdrop," the psi retorted to his brother-in-law.

"Get over yourself. It's not eavesdropping when you have a conversation in a common area with the door open." Silvian and the others joined them at the table.

Frostor gestured for them to take a seat. "Ah, but if he did that, Silvian, he might have to admit he's wrong, and we know how likely that is."

"And thank _you _for encouraging him," Psiarik grumbled to the ice general while Selene stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Why don't we just drop this?" she requested.

Frostor nodded. "If you want."

"Which clearly, you and Silvian don't," the still annoyed Psiarik said. "So I think I'm going to take a walk and leave you to your theorizing." He stood and gave Selene's hand a squeeze as she stepped back to let him up to show that she was not the one he was irked at, and fixed a glare at the prince to drive his point home. "Let me know when Silvian decides to advance past the mental age of a ten year old," he said in parting, and walked out.

The unimpressed Silvian rolled his eyes. "And he's acting like an adult, right?"

"Can't you see that he's exhausted?" Selene chastised her brother. "Give him a break."

"I don't think catching up on sleep is going to fix whatever's crawled up his pants, Sis," Silvian responded, frowning. "Maybe if he dealt with his issues instead of moping and brooding on them, he'd get some peace and we'd get some peace rather than having to baby-sit him."

Selene eyed her brother with disapproval. "And maybe if you didn't start off with your rude comments, he wouldn't fire them back at you so quickly."

"Rudeness aside, I don't think that's the only reason his temper's on edge," Frostor interjected. "Given what he just told me and Luna, I think it's very likely that his dreams are psychic flashes involving the MoonSaber and the prophecy. We ought to be on guard. It could be that it's using him to warn us. Psis are more sensitive to that sort of thing."

Silvian's hand fell onto the hilt of the MoonSaber in an almost instinctive way. "Psiarik, sensitive. Hah, that's one way of putting it," he quipped before lapsing into a more serious tone. "And I'm its guardian, not him. If it had a message to get across, wouldn't it get it to me somehow?" He drew the mystical sword and looked at the crescent gemstone in the hilt.

"Probably," Frostor conceded. "I'm just concerned that in light of his dreams, some force knows the MoonSaber has been found and might be working against us. A psi seer doesn't need to be the MoonSaber's guardian to get a vision of warning."

"And Psiarik isn't a seer. He was schooled here on the Third Moon, not Mirindet. His powers are only trained in what his family taught him," Silvian pointed out.

"His mother was an empath, and I believe his stepfather was a seer, from what he's told me," Selene explained. "But all psis are born with the spectrum of the abilities to a degree." She looked to Luna and Chilla. "Is there a seer history on his father's side?"

Luna straightened in her seat. "Like I told Frostor, Alluro's never been prophetic."

Chilla nodded in agreement with her tiny leader. "He's a hypnotist. That's his specialty."

"Hypnotists have a bit of empathic abilities," Frostor mused.

"Being empathic would imply Alluro is sensitive to _other _people's feelings, and I can assure you, that's not the case," Luna said snidely, inspiring Chilla to smirk as well.

Silvian admired the gleam of the MoonSaber in the sunlight that came through the window and re-sheathed it. "Regardless, none of us will have to worry about that prophecy because I'm not going to use our sword in conjunction with any Incantation of Destruction. Nothing a Thunderian or Mutant did would make me risk our Moons going through more devastation."

Selene's eyes fell upon the sword now attached to Silvian's belt and she found herself contemplating its power and why someone would use it to do such a thing. Surely none of the leaders of Plundarr or New Thundera would want to see their worlds or people endure horrors allegedly worse than the Thundera explosion disasters had wrought on all of them, but there was still the question of Mumm-Ra, who supposedly had the Mutants' sword. "Vultureman, Aunt Luna," she addressed the two most familiar with the demon priest, "If Mumm-Ra had the Sword of Plundarr, do you think he would try to steal our MoonSaber to start this Incantation of Destruction?"

"Caw, Mumm-Ra would do anything to destroy the Thundercats and Lion-O, including wipe out two planets and five moons," Vultureman said bluntly. "Getting the Sword of Omens was what he was after with them in the first place."

Luna nodded in agreement with the avian. "And Mumm-Ra is none too fond of any of us. He betrayed us, the Mutants, and just about everyone else who ever worked with him." She paused and then added, "And Torlei isn't much of a fan of ours either, especially since I killed her."

"You _killed_ her?" a surprised Frostor said. Hearing that Luna had killed was not the shocking part; he had heard that and worse in his own studies of her. The fact that she had murdered one of her own crew, one she seemed oddly devoted to despite their dysfunctional dynamic, was.

"In self defense," Luna told him. "At the time she'd gone insane and was trying to kill us all. I beat her to the punch with a lucky shot from a laser blaster."

Silvian's face wrinkled in confusion. "This may be a stupid question, but if she's dead how can she do anything?"

"Remember when we said she was dead and married to the mummy that imprisoned us?" When Silvian, Selene, and Frostor gave a nod, she went on to elaborate. "Some years after she died, Mumm-Ra raised her from the dead, the gods only know why, and wed her in some twisted black magic mockery of a marriage ceremony. His spirit masters transformed her into an undead creature much like him." She frowned, and those who knew her well might have noticed a rueful note creep into her voice. "Torlei always did have ambition and in life, she had an interest in the darker teachings of the occult. I didn't think much of it, and chalked it up to a personality quirk. Knowing what I know now, I suppose someone like her would sell their soul to dark gods for the right reason." She gave a small shrug. "Anyhow, we presumed her destroyed when her and Mumm-Ra's debut partnership ended with the Thundercats saving the day and blasting her into a volcano, but enough time dealing with Mumm-Ra has taught me that 'ever-living' is not a term to be taken lightly."

Chilla raised an eyebrow. "You never said you thought she was alive before, Luna."

"Bah! Do you think I would say that in front of Alluro so we could listen to him obsess about his dead sister endlessly?" Luna asked the ice woman. "I don't think so, Chilla, and I don't think you should either."

"No," Chilla agreed. "And if Mumm-Ra was going to strike at us, he's had ample opportunity. We were easy targets back on Way Out Back."

"True," Luna agreed uneasily, and Silvian, Selene, and Frostor relaxed somewhat. Vultureman, on the other hand, was not quite as optimistic, but he chose to keep his beak shut. Things were tense enough in the MoonTower as it was without inciting paranoia about prophecies, evil immortal mummies, or impending invasions from wannabe sword-snatchers. There was already enough odd behavior among the Lunatacs, and the addition of Luna's crew to the mix only doubled it. Lunatacs were strange enough as it was _without _them acting out of sorts.


	5. Illusions - Part Two

In an effort to cool off, Psiarik stormed into Vultureman's lab on the lower level of the MoonTower. He glanced over the contents of the benches looking for a gadget or gizmo-in-progress that would generate a nice destructive blast or two to let him vent some steam. There were a lot of boulders in the fields behind the MoonTower and he was certain that he could find one that was about five feet tall and had a big head, something that could pass for his irritating brother-in-law Prince Silvian. He approached the first bench and began rifling through the odds and ends on it when he heard a voice behind him.

"Psiarik?"

Alluro's face was among the last he wanted to see at that moment. "What are you doing here?" he asked with an accusatory tone.

"Vultureman offered to let me take a look at some of his newer inventions. I worked with him a time or two on Third Earth, so I was curious as to what the bird brain's come up with over the years," Alluro told him. "Why are you here? Are you a scientist?"

"No, I'm someone who's pissed off and looking for something the royal inventor might've come up with to let me blow up rocks that remind me of my brother-in-law," the younger psi retorted, picking up the gadget nearest him. Unfortunately it seemed to be more of a meter or monitor of some type rather than a weapon, but whatever it was, it was preferable to examine in place of looking at who was speaking to him. Facing Alluro meant facing the issues that his long-absent and much maligned-by-his-mother father brought up, and he was not in the mood to deal with that on a good day, much less on little to no sleep.

Alluro eyed his newfound son curiously. "You don't get along with him?"

Psiarik sighed and turned to look at what else was on the bench. "Don't get me wrong, he's Selene's brother, and he's family, but he doesn't know when to shut his big mouth."

A knowing smirk tugged at the corners of Alluro's mouth at the realization that the same statement could apply to a certain relation of Silvian's that he knew quite well. "Sounds like Luna."

"Yeah well, they are related. Maybe annoying tendencies are hereditary." As soon as he said it, Psiarik realized that he had inadvertently opened the door for the exact discussion he wanted to avoid, and he kicked himself inwardly for it, especially when Alluro then gave him a questioning look. "Look, I didn't mean—"

"I know what you meant," Alluro cut him off. "I don't need to be an empath to figure out what you think of me." He frowned. "If I'd known about you—"

"What? Would it have changed anything? Somehow I don't think so," Psiarik snapped as his anger roiled. "My mother told me all I need to know about you, and to put it politely I'll just say that most of it wasn't flattering. You lied to her and you used her." He glared at Alluro, unable to stop now that he had gotten started. "Do you know how she found out about who and what you _really_ were?"

Alluro's brow rose at that. "Did Lurella tell you and her family that she didn't know I worked with Luna to save face?" He laughed. "I didn't think she had that sort of guile in her."

Psiarik saw no humor in it and his scowl deepened. "No, there was no hiding that, although it probably would've been less humiliating for her to have said my father was a one-night-stand instead of a wanted criminal. But once the charges were made, everyone knew. She thought you were different, that you _loved_ and _needed_ her, until reality set in and she saw the list of crimes you and your pals were involved in… on mass media, no less, rather than from your mouth or someone who actually cared about her." He glared at Alluro as though he was the lowest form of life in existence. "That's when it sunk in that you were only ever in it for yourself, and that everyone who warned her you were just a sleaze after her money was right. Unfortunately it was too late by then, she was already screwed and pregnant with me." Psiarik folded his arms. "Most likely I was better off without you anyway, even if I was the living embodiment of her mistake." He let out a hollow, cynical laugh. "And the only survivor in her family at that. Some legacy. They must be thrilled. But maybe that was my lot in life for being the bastard."

If Alluro had not been stung personally by the venom directed at him in Psiarik's, or rather, Lurella's bitter and biased take on the events, he would have laughed out loud at his son's melodramatics. Oh yes, the boy must have had it hard indeed growing up in a noble family with snobbery as his worst hardship, Alluro thought, and even though he had played loosely with Lurella's feelings, he did not recall her complaining any of the times they had shared a bed. _He probably wouldn't believe me if I told him I would have married his mother, even if not for the reasons he would've liked. _

"Your lot in life," Alluro repeated sarcastically. "Status, power, a pretty wife that just happens to be royalty? And you blame it on me? We should all have such problems. At least I can say with certainty that your penchant for whining comes from your mother's side."

The other psi clenched his hand into a fist and glowered at Alluro with unbridled contempt. "You don't know the first thing about me, or what my life has been like!"

"Perhaps in my exile on Third Earth, being harassed by an undead mummy, my time locked up in a Circus Train, or my years on the run with Luna dodging sanctimonious CONTROL officers and Thundercat helpers has dulled my perspective, but somehow I don't think being married to the queen makes for rough pitiable living."

"Your misery is of your own doing," Psiarik spat accusingly at him. "Mine? Your part in my life beyond sperm donation was to serve as the example thrown up in my face of how not to be at every opportunity, and believe me, there were plenty." He turned away. "And that was while I still had family. I lost them when I was a teenager in the disasters. My mother, my stepfather, my half-sister, even my cousins and aunts and uncles. Every last one of them." Psiarik turned and stared harshly at Alluro. "That bad enough to please you?"

The hypnotist frowned, the anger and loathing in his son's eyes hurting him on a level he had not previously experienced. "Your mother must've painted me as quite the monster to think that I'd be pleased to see a son of mine hurt. I'd have thought an empath would've known me better than that, especially given how close my sister and I were in those days. Regardless of why I took up with Lurella, I never wished her ill, and certainly never would've done so to our son… a son she never told me about."

"I told you, she didn't know about me until after you were already history, the gods know where. Halfway to Third Earth, I guess, on your way to the good life of raiding where you missed all the disasters back home."

"The 'good life'? Is that what you think life on Third Earth was like?" Alluro retorted with a cynical laugh. "Let me tell you about Third Earth. When we weren't trapped in molten rock, we had to kowtow to Mumm-Ra's insane whims, tolerate the incompetent idiocy of the Mutants, the constant run-ins with the Thundercats that balked our plans and moralized at us at every step, and oh, as a bonus, I got to watch my sister die not once, but twice. Then when that joyous stay on Third Earth concluded, it was because those damnable Thundercats helped that worthless Captain Bragg lock us up on Way Out Back. So please, spare me your insights on the Third Earth 'good life' until you leave your precious little palace and live it for yourself," he seethed in disgust. "I'd say between what you, your wife, the prince, Frostor, and the others dealt with in the disasters was not so much worse than what we put up with while we were away."

"I see," Psiarik scoffed. "So _I'm _supposed to feel sorry for _you_, is that it?"

Alluro frowned. "No, but you ought to stop feeling so sorry for yourself."

Shaking his head, Psiarik said sarcastically, "Don't you think it's a little late for fatherly advice?"

"Apparently so," the fed up Alluro retorted, and grumbled under his breath. "That's the last time I _ever _listen to Luna on a personal matter. Her advice is as useless as she is." He took several swift strides toward the door while Psiarik stood there, suddenly struck with a flash of remorse.

"Alluro… wait." The elder psi turned around, but said nothing while Psiarik continued to stare at him for a moment. Finally the younger psi asked, "You asked Luna about me?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You cared enough to ask?" Psiarik's statement betrayed a hint of emotion other than anger, and that in turn led Alluro to rein in his wounded ego long enough to answer honestly.

"Yes," he said. "Whether you like it or not, you're the only family _I_ have left. Surprised as I was to find out about it, it does matter to me." He frowned. "But if you've already made up your mind to hate me based on what your mother told you about me, then I won't waste my time. If I'm in the mood for verbal abuse, Luna's always happy to dish that out and hers I'm at least used to."

The sincerity in Alluro's words was clear enough to Psiarik, and he relented in his own stubbornness. "All right, maybe I did judge you too harshly. I don't know you personally, and only heard Mom and her family's side," he admitted. "But what they told me and what Frostor's history books say about you and Luna and your group are pretty damning, you have to admit." Alluro nodded, and Psiarik continued. "And my mother… you _were _using her."

"I admit that," Alluro said. "But regardless of what she told you, even if I didn't love your mother, hurting her was incidental, not an intention."

"And I'm going to say now that if you ever mess with me, Selene, or anyone else I care about, I'll see to it personally that you regret the day you laid eyes on my mother and allowed me to be born," Psiarik warned him.

"You don't need to worry about that. Despite who I am and what you know about me, I'm no ever-living source of evil," Alluro said with a hint of wryness. "Like I said, you're my only family, Psiarik. I'd rather be on good terms with you than bad."

Psiarik smiled faintly. "All right then. As long as we've got that straight, maybe we can work something out."

Alluro echoed the friendly gesture. "Let's talk."

* * *

Little Cheetaro, the son of Lion-O and Cheetara, sat contentedly in his playroom building a pyramid with his toy blocks. Snarf had been watching him, but he had left the room for a moment to check on a loud noise that sounded too much like a crash for his liking that had originated in Pumari's room. Chet did not know why he wanted to build a pyramid with four towers on each corner, but he did so anyway, and when it was finished, he stared at it with rapt attention.

"Mumm-Ra," the cub said in an eerie tone. "Torlei." He spoke the two names aloud even though there was no one to hear him, names that echoed through his mind in a way he had not experienced before. Then suddenly it seemed to the child that the entire room around him vanished, replaced by a terrible darkness. Looking around scared, Chet saw two frightening figures and a grotesque dog that loomed in the shadows by a pool. _Monsters,_ the terrified child thought, _they're monsters!_ Panicking, the child turned and saw something equally scary—WilyKat hanging limply in chains against a stone wall on the other side of the chamber from the monsters.

The intense aura of evil and fear permeated the atmosphere of the place Chet found himself in, and he cried out in fear. The two frightening figures and their demon dog then turned their attention to him, eyes ablaze with malicious intent, causing the cub to scream in abject terror.

When the frightened child opened his eyes, the awful place was gone and he was back at home, safe in Snarf's comforting arms. The nursemaid rocked him and spoke gently, doing his best to reassure and calm him. "It's okay, little guy. It's all right. You're safe with old Snarf."

Chet's wails quieted to soft cries and then sniffles. He looked up at Snarf uneasily, but began to relax when he saw for himself that the scary monsters were gone and there was no sign of a harmed WilyKat. Relieved that whatever had upset him so had seemingly passed, Snarf smiled at the cub and set him back down. He handed the boy a berbil-berry and chocolate cookie. "Here you go. This ought to make you feel better, snarf snarf."

Smiling now, Chet took the cookie and immediately took a big bite. The scary vision was forgotten.

* * *

Alone in his bedroom, Silvian struck a dramatic pose in front of his mirror with the MoonSaber. "Take that!" he declared to an invisible foe, admiring the ease with which he found himself handling it, and rather pleased if he did say so himself with how he looked with it. "The ladies will definitely like this," he said with a confident grin.

The prince's preening was interrupted as a shimmering glow formed in the mirror's glass, filling it with a brilliant white light reminiscent of the sun shining upon frozen snow. Silvian blinked in astonishment, but did not tense for a fight and instead merely watched the phenomenon. The initial flash of the light dimmed to a pleasing glow and the image of a woman slowly formed within it. The figure was that of a proud icewalker with facial features similar to Chilla's, although this woman was clearly not the Lunatac that he had met only a short time ago. This ice woman's hair was long and white, tied back from her face in an intricate braid. She wore a dark blue velour bodysuit accented with silvery armored boots, pauldrons, and a belt in a matched set. Around her neck and down her back hung a satiny cape similarly colored to her clothing, fastened by the royal Lunar insignia upon her chest.

"Prince Silvian!" Her natural icewalker voice was harsh and commanding, but eloquent with the slight accent of one who had spent time in the royal court on the Third Moon.

Startled as the vision spoke to him, Silvian took a step closer to the mirror, and it was then that he recognized her as the woman from a portrait that had hung in the old royal palace. "Chillandra?" he murmured, awestruck.

The figure nodded. "I am she who was called Mistress of the Cold. Your kingdom is in grave danger, Prince Silvian. The MoonSaber your grandfather bade me to protect has been found."

"I know," Silvian said, and held it out to show the apparition. "But I have it, and it's safe."

Chillandra shook her head and voice retained its ominous tone. "The Moons will never be safe as long as the Thundercats that tried to steal it from us exist. They mean to take it from you. Years ago they tried and failed, but make no mistake—they will try again! Especially now that the snow leopard has been freed from the ice prison I left her in, she will seek to see her mission fulfilled. Be warned, young prince, and do not be fooled into complacency!"

Silvian's eyes narrowed determinedly. "They'll never take this from me. They'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands."

"Stop them before they can, Prince Silvian."

The prince frowned as the meaning of the ghostly sorceress' order sank in. "I don't like Thundercats any more than any self-respecting Lunatac, but they haven't attacked or threatened us. There's no proof—"

"What more proof than my word do you need?" Chillandra's spirit hissed at him, her eyes flashing with impatience and short temper. "I see all from the astral, and I tell you now that the felines plot treachery against your people. They intend to steal the MoonSaber and subjugate our people into living by their code, with no regard to our laws or our culture. They will destroy everything you hold dear if they get our sword. Stop them!"

Something in her words struck a chord within the lunar prince. From what little he knew of Thundercats, all secondhand accounts given that he had never encountered one, he did know of their touted Code of Thundera, and Luna and her friends had told them enough for him to be rightfully wary of them. "I know they're self-righteous, but they condemn us for raiding and having slaves. Wouldn't conquering and enslaving us would go against their high and mighty code?"

Chillandra eyed him with a piercing stare. "The felines are hypocrites! They use their code to justify their agenda. They call us thieves, but would take what's ours claiming it's for our own good. They decry slavery, but don't think twice about imposing their will on their enemies through force. Don't be fooled by their pretense of honor. Strike them before they strike you. _Destroy _them!"

"Destroy them?" Silvian repeated, an apprehensive edge creeping into his voice. "But I've never just attacked anyone, not without reason." The lunar prince was hotheaded, impulsive, and eager to prove himself, but did not lust for the blood of his enemies. He was of the mindset to let a sleeping cat lie, so long as it did not come into his backyard.

Chillandra would not be swayed, and she nearly shrieked back at him with fire in her eyes. "Don't you think the preservation of the Moons is a reason?"

"But neither Selene nor I ever even led an invasion," he admitted. "And the Thundercats haven't attacked—"

"They will, Prince Silvian! You and you alone with the MoonSaber must stop them before it's too late for all of you. You owe it to your people. The fate of the Moons lies in your hands, Guardian of the MoonSaber. Don't let them down. Protect them. Go to New Thundera and stop the Thundercat Lord from carrying out that wretched snow leopard's failed mission before they destroy everything you hold dear."

The ghostly icewalker's threats were too dire for Silvian to brush off. Painful memories of his childhood with Selene, enduring the loss of nearly all that he loved and growing up in the uncertainty of a shattered world, were enough to convince him that he could not allow such a thing to ever happen again, no matter what. Besides, Chillandra was one of their own, an honored advisor of his grandfather's and a loyal servant to his people. Certainly her spirit could be trusted. "All right," Silvian agreed somberly. "I'll do whatever's necessary to protect the Moons."

"Today," Chillandra insisted. "You must leave _now_. Each moment that passes is another that the Thundercats have to put their plans into motion."

Silvian nodded and clutched the MoonSaber. "Now then," he said, and immediately left the room. He stopped only long enough to inform his sister, whom he found in a sitting room with Frostor, Chilla, Luna, Amok, and TugMug. After telling them what he had been told, they agreed that action must be taken, and Frostor, Chilla, and TugMug volunteered to accompany him on the mission as backup. Selene wished them all luck and a safe return, and she, Luna, and Amok watched them depart in a royal battleship from a solarium on the MoonTower's top floor.

The specter of Chillandra also watched the prince and his companions leave, but with a sinister look as opposed to the concerned one on the lunar queen's face. Slowly the façade of Chillandra twisted and morphed, revealing her true identity beneath. Jagged and rotted teeth flashed between sneering and decayed lips, and the malevolent red power of the Ancient Spirits of Evil blazed in his eyes. "Yes, Prince Silvian, do go and attack the Thundercats," Mumm-Ra chuckled maliciously. "I'll be there when your swords clash and you meet your fate, and will take good care of the power and what's left of the worlds you leave behind. But you won't be here to worry about that." The echo of Mumm-Ra's wicked and maniacal laughter filled the prince's empty bedchamber before he vanished from it altogether.

* * *

A planet away on the Mutants' home of Plundarr, the great Ratar-O sat at the head of the grand table of the war room in the palace of the Mutant Warrior King. The proud holder of that title for many years now, Ratar-O was not sitting idly on his throne enjoying the provocative dances of his harem of female Mutant concubines or feasting in the great hall with other Mutant nobles, clan leaders, or governors. He was restless that day, and had chosen to spend his time studying recent reports and chartings of an asteroid cluster that held promise of unmined fuel and riches. The area was uninhabited and inhospitable, but CONTROL had a loose claim on the territory and Ratar-O had conflicting urgings from the simian and reptilian clans as to whether to pursue an operation there. The reptilians were insistent that it was necessary for their power needs in their military base and primary city, while the simians were against the notion, irked to see more of their tax credits funding reptilian ambition.

_At least the jackals and vultures aren't complaining this time, _the rat mused. _Throw the canines a bone and they shut up, and the vultures are too busy squawking about how under-appreciated they are in the empire to care how long the simians and reptilians squabble in state meetings_. He set down one folder and picked up another, thumbing through it while his whiskers twitched restlessly. He supposed he ought to be glad that the other rat clan leaders were staying largely out of it. _At least the lizards and monkeys aren't bribing my family members left and right for a favorable decision this time,_ he thought with disgust.

A blinding flash of light interrupted his ruminations. The rat looked up, stunned, and saw the image of his ancestor Ratilla, one of the mightiest mutant warriors and leaders of record, standing before him. "Ratar-O," the ghost greeted him.

"Ratilla?" Ratar-O said, disbelief in his voice even as he witnessed it with his own eyes.

"Yes," confirmed the rat spirit. "I am Ratilla, and I've come to help you reclaim your destiny and birthright."

"My birthright?" Ratar-O repeated. "What are you talking about? I'm the Mutant Warrior King. I _have_ my birthright, and my throne."

"But not the Sword of Plundarr." Ratilla pointed a long brown finger at him. "It was forged to be in the hands of Mutants, but the devil priest Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living has it instead. For generations it was held and wielded by the best and strongest of Mutant-kind. It should be in _your _hands, Ratar-O, not his."

The living rat frowned, whiskers twitching, as he considered what the spirit of his ancestor told him. "Indeed."

"Since I was the last Mutant to hold the Sword of Plundarr, and my unfortunate defeat at the hands of that miserable Thundercat Jaga is what caused it to be lost, it's my duty to return it to our people and its rightful holder," Ratilla's ghost explained. "Jaga and the Thundercats dealt us a double insult that day. First he refused me the honor of a warrior's death by trapping and exiling me instead, leaving me to perish alone in space. Second, he stole the very sword of Mutant-kind, handed to us by the gods themselves, and sought to destroy it in a volcano."

Ratar-O let out a contemptuous growl that matched the anger of his spectral ancestor. "The wretch Jaga is dead, perished on the ship that took him from the dying Thundera. That fool Slythe got that much right in his reports. Not as fitting retribution as he deserves, but delivered to his fate nonetheless." A cruel sneer tugged at his mouth. "And from what I hear, the Sword of Plundarr had its revenge by causing the destruction of the old Thundera itself."

"It had its revenge, but not its satisfaction. Thundera is reborn and our sword did not spill the blood of my enemy. The time has come to rectify that. Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living claimed the Sword of Plundarr, and the gods allowed him to keep it for a time, to punish my failure in letting it fall into the hands of the Thundercats. But its destiny won't be denied, and the demon sorcerer knows that. The time has come to return it to you, Ratar-O, so you that you can avenge the wrong done to me by Lord Jaga. He took my life from me but did not end it. The Sword of Plundarr cries for the blood of a Thundercat Lord to be shed at the hands of the Mutant Warrior King."

"And Mumm-Ra will give me the Sword of Plundarr?" Ratar-O asked. "Just like that?"

Ratilla let out a victorious laugh. "Yes, just like that! Mumm-Ra knows better than to balk destiny, and nothing would please him more than to see the Lord of the Thundercats dead once and for all."

"The thought pleases me too," the rat Mutant agreed. "But I thought the cats defeated Mumm-Ra years ago. Are you saying he's still around, and alive?"

"Mumm-Ra can _never _die." Ratilla's eyes nearly glowed with intensity as he spoke. "Go to New Thundera to his black pyramid. You will find it there in the ruins, and him in it. He has the Sword of Plundarr, and he will give it to you so you can have revenge on Lion-O and New Thundera and conquer the Thundercats once and for all."

Nodding slowly, Ratar-O then said, "And what does Mumm-Ra ask in return? I know enough of the mummy to know he doesn't do favors on a whim."

"The Ancient Spirits of Evil and our gods have made a pact in this matter," Ratilla told him. "Mumm-Ra will return the Sword of Plundarr asking only that you allow him to do as he wishes on New Thundera once Lion-O is finished and you've conquered the Thundercats."

"Excellent." Ratar-O drew his Rat's Eyes in anticipation of the upcoming battle. He wondered how different it would be to wield the mighty Sword of Plundarr in place of his magical twin sais, and smiled at the notion of having to make such a decision.

"Go to Mumm-Ra now," Ratilla urged. "Don't fail me, or your fellow Mutants!"

_You mean like you did, my ancestor?_ Ratar-O thought snidely, although he left it unsaid out of respect to Ratilla, his position, and his legacy. Instead he simply replied, "I'll finish what you started all those years ago, Ratilla. Lord Lion-O and the Thundercats will be an annoying footnote in our history, and New Thundera will be Plundarr's!" The Mutant Warrior King then held up his Rat's Eyes together, causing them to glow with power, before re-sheathing them on his belt and heading for the nearest ship.

Once more, the ghost Mumm-Ra masqueraded as faded to reveal his true form as soon as the foolish mortal he had duped left the room. "I had forgotten how amusing these little games can be," the ancient mummy cackled. "I look forward to the look on Lion-O's face when both the Mutants and the Lunatacs turn up on his doorstep crying for his blood." He laughed again, and vanished from sight.

* * *

Back on the Third Moon, Psiarik's mood had much improved. After he and Alluro had broken the ice and come to a resolution regarding their familial tie, each came away having learned a bit about the other, and that they had a few things in common other than receding hairlines and lunars that irritated them on a regular basis. Hearing Alluro's side of the story as far as his mother was concerned gave him a new perspective. He would never approve of how he had treated her, but he had never realized how much her bitterness might have colored the facts as she presented them. Granted, he could not take Alluro's version as gospel either, but he had a feeling about where the truth of it was, and he supposed he could accept that as long as Alluro kept his word to never be deceitful with him or those he cared about. Like Selene and Silvian had with Luna, Psiarik could leave Alluro's criminal acts in the past so long as he left that behavior behind him there. Alluro was willing to give that much; with no other family of his own left on the Moons and already tied to someone with lofty societal ties, what need was there for him to seek more? None at that time, anyway.

Therefore it came as a welcome and pleasant surprise when the two of them joined Selene, Luna, Amok, Vultureman, RedEye, and Lushara in one of the MoonTower's lounges walking in together and neither visibly hostile toward the other. "Oh, does this mean what I think it does?" Selene asked with a smile. "Are you two finally working things out?"

When Alluro and Psiarik both nodded back to the lunar queen, Luna harrumphed from atop Amok. "Well it's about time."

Selene giggled good-naturedly. "Silvian's big mouth runs on your branch of the family, doesn't it, Aunt Luna?"

Psiarik looked over those gathered in the room and noticed his brother-in-law's absence. "Where is the Prince of Obnoxiousness anyway?"

"Oh, caw, you missed all the action," Vultureman informed him. "Silvian came to Selene a little while ago saying the ghost of Chillandra told him to strike at the Thundercats before they did us, and that they were planning an attack."

"What? A ghost appeared and told him that?" Alluro asked dubiously.

Selene nodded. "Yes. He was very rattled by it… we all were." She frowned. "I've been trying to keep my mind off of it until I hear from him, since he went off to do as she asked. Chillandra's spirit told him that the Thundercats planned to steal the MoonSaber, that the Thundercat who originally tried to take it was freed by the others, and that they were resuming their attempts to take it because they knew it'd been found. Apparently they want to force us out of rulership and make us live under their rule." The lunar queen frowned. "Unbelievable. We've never even interacted with the Thundercats, and they plot against us this way? Our _parents_ fought those wars, not us. Even all these years after the disasters, the Moons have barely enough ships and weaponry to maintain our own military for defense, let alone go out on mass conquests."

The color drained from Psiarik's face. "No," he said, horrified, reminded of his nightmare. "He went to New Thundera?"

"Not just him," Luna said. "Frostor insisted on going along, and Chilla and TugMug went too. I suppose they were getting a bit stir-crazy and wanted to see some action."

RedEye grunted. "Not me. I'm not tired of taking it easy just yet."

"And I'm sure your new best friend has nothing to do with that," Luna quipped, noting how close her associate stood to Lushara, the female darkling of the MoonTower.

While RedEye shot Luna a look that clearly said "butt out," Lushara took the opportunity to divert the conversation back to topic at hand. "They took a pretty decent ship, our best armed one. Frostor made sure they all had good weapons when they left, and Silvian has been practicing with that sword. Hopefully between his recent sparring practice with it and the fact that it's a magical weapon attuned to him will keep him in one piece." Selene grimaced at that, and Lushara offered her a reassuring smile. "And he did seem pretty confident that he was going to have no trouble 'kicking their self-righteous asses.'"

Vultureman shrugged. "The Thundercats have probably gotten so used to their happy little world where everyone follows their code and Mumm-Ra is gone that they've gotten used to having it easy. I doubt they're, caw, used to fighting anymore."

Hearing all of that only made Psiarik feel worse, and his stomach twisted into an anxious knot. "You're telling me that Silvian took the MoonSaber to New Thundera to fight Thundercats?"

"Well where else would they go? They all live there now except for one or two on Third Earth," Luna said, and frowned. "Is this about that dream you told me and Frostor about?"

"Yes!" the psi snapped. "And I can't believe you all just let him go."

Selene went over to her husband's side, worry now etched on her features. "It wasn't a decision we made lightly, even if it was quick. He didn't want to wait to find anyone else. Chillandra made it seem like he had no time at all to waste. She was the one my grandfather entrusted with hiding the MoonSaber… surely we can trust her spirit's advice to lead us away from harm?"

Psiarik closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, trying to force the ugly images of his dreams from his mind. "I don't know about Chillandra, I just know what I dreamt and if Silvian's on New Thundera then he's in serious danger." He looked her straight in the eye. "He's going to die there, at the hands of the red-haired Thundercat or the rat Mutant."

"Red-haired Thundercat?" RedEye repeated. "Lion-O? Or the girl, I guess she'd be grown now?"

"A male. The Lord of the Thundercats," Psiarik confirmed.

Frowning, Alluro said, "That would be Lion-O."

"By the gods." Psiarik slammed his fist on the table. "Frostor thinks my dream is a prophecy, well if it is, Silvian's dead. We all will be, if he's heading into a battle using Incantation of Destruction."

"Silvian's not an idiot, Psiarik, he's not going to use that," Lushara pointed out. "And I can't imagine that any Thundercat or Mutant would be that stupid either."

Vultureman cawed and paced toward the window. "We can hope, anyway."

"It doesn't matter, because they aren't the ones doing it. They are!"

"Who are?" Selene asked Psiarik, unable to make sense of what he was saying in his agitated state, and growing more alarmed herself by the minute. "Who's 'they'?"

"The cloaked figures!" he shouted at her. "They're chanting, and if Frostor's right, then they're chanting that ancient incantation while Silvian and the others fight."

"What cloaked figures? Who are they?" asked RedEye.

Vultureman let out a cynical squawk. "Hmm, someone that practices black magic, wears a cloak, and would have no problems inciting mass destruction to get revenge on his enemies. I wonder."

"Mumm-Ra." Alluro finished the avian's thought, enunciating the name with disgusted realization.

Selene, meanwhile, became hysterical. "No! My brother! Oh, gods!" Her naturally high-pitched lunar voice took on a shrill shriek not dissimilar to Luna's. "I never should've let him go!"

Lushara reached to put a comforting arm around the queen. "You didn't know, Selene."

"It doesn't matter," she cried, and then bolted toward the door. "I can't let this happen. I have to stop him."

That spurred Psiarik into action, remembering all too well what would happen to her after Silvian in that dream, and he grabbed her arm to halt her. "No! You're not going, Selene. You'll die if you do, and I won't lose you!"

"I have to go," she argued, trying to wrench away. "I can't lose him either. I can't do nothing while my brother gets killed! Let me go!"

"_I_ won't stand by and watch _you_ die!" Psiarik yelled back, holding onto her even more tightly.

"Let go of me!" Selene insisted.

Psiarik held his ground and yelled back. "No, you listen to me!"

"No!" the lunar queen howled. "Let me go now! You remember who's in charge here, king-consort," she raged, throwing the technical title of the ruler who merely marries into the family back at him to remind him of his status. "Don't you make me pull rank and call guards. I'll do it! Let go this instant, and that's a royal order!"

Scowling, Psiarik dropped her arm. "You expect me to do the same thing you won't, _your highness_, is that it? Don't you think I love you just as much as you love Silvian?"

"I love you and my brother!" the teary Selene yelled back at him. "I have to do whatever I can to save him. Wouldn't you have done the same for your sister if you could've?" She stormed toward the door, and paused. "I'm sorry, but I'm going, and that's that!"

"Fine then, I'm going with you."

Vultureman cawed in disbelief at the arguing royal couple. "I suppose that I'll take over the Moons when the three of you and the Governor General get bumped off then, seeing as I'm sure you wouldn't want to leave Luna in charge, caw, lest it start a revolution."

Luna let out an indignant squawk of her own at the Mutant's remark, while Selene stepped into the doorway ahead of Psiarik, blocking him from going through, and turning around. "That won't be necessary, Vultureman. Psiarik is staying here."

"What?" the psi yelled in exasperation.

"While he could've phrased it better, Vultureman has a point. It's our responsibility to make sure at least one of us is here to keep things from falling apart."

Psiarik groaned. "Then let me go instead. You stay here where it's safe."

The queen remained firm. "No, and that's a royal order too." She pointed her finger up at him, a comical image from the viewpoint of a bystander considering that she was well over two feet shorter than he. "You're staying, and I'm going after Silvian, and you're not going to change my mind."

Unwilling to concede, Psiarik stared Selene down and drew on what mesmerization abilities he knew. "No. You will _not_ go, Selene. You will not follow Silvian. You will stay here and not risk your life."

Alluro realized immediately what his son was trying, could tell that he was not trained at it, and knew without question that it was not going to work. Lunars were notoriously stubborn and often difficult to keep in a thrall even to a seasoned hypnotist; that and Amok's total resistance to it was why he had not hypnotized Luna into taking a long walk off of Skytomb's roof years ago. Others in the room realized what was going on as well, but they wisely stayed out of it, at least until seeing Selene's reaction.

The thrall worked for a moment, but as Alluro had predicted, it wore off after lasting just long enough for Selene to realize what he had attempted. "How dare you!" she shrieked at Psiarik. "You lose an argument so you try to twist my mind to get your way?"

"Only because I love you too much to let you run off to your death!" the frustrated Psiarik replied.

Her pride and ego now bruised along with her ire up, Selene glowered furiously at her husband. "Controlling me isn't love, not by any stretch. Don't you ever try that again." She reached up and smacked him hard, although as tall as he stood without slouching it connected most easily to his upper arm rather than the face she would have aimed at otherwise. Angry and desperate tears spilled down her cheeks, which combined with her outburst, led him to feel like a heel despite his conviction that he had not been out of line. "If you stop me from going and Silvian dies, I'll never forgive you. Never!"

Realizing that the fight was lost either way, he stared down at her with a miserable look that matched hers. "Go on then, if it's what you really want," he said, his tone low and his heart heavy in his chest. "Obviously I can't stop you, and nobody else will." He glanced at the others who only watched the interchange in apprehensive silence. "Chase Silvian. I hope you can save him, that I'm wrong, and that you'll both be back. But if you're not—"

"We will be," Selene asserted, and looked up at him meaningfully. "Thank you for understanding. I knew you would. I'll keep you informed, and return… with Silvian." She drew him into a hug and then left before he or anyone else could object.

With that emotional tempest finally over, Luna let out a beleaguered sigh. "Fool girl. You have to admire her determination, but she probably will get herself killed unless someone who knows what they're doing goes along. Come on, Amok. Just because Psiarik isn't supposed to go doesn't mean the rest of us have to stay." She spurred her brute and turned toward RedEye, Alluro, Vultureman, and Lushara. "Coming along?"

RedEye nodded and joined Luna and Amok's side, while Alluro shook his head, eyeing his distraught son with concern. "No Luna, I think I should stay here."

Catching onto his meaning, Luna gave a quick nod. Lushara remained where she stood. "I'm staying too. If it's going to hit the fan, more than Psiarik and Alluro will be needed to clean it up here." She looked at the three Lunatacs ready to leave, her eyes lingering on RedEye. "Safe travels."

"Vultureman?" Luna prompted the Mutant.

"Caw, I don't think so," the vulture retorted. "I've dealt with Mumm-Ra and the Thundercats more than enough for three lifetimes. I'll sit this one out. If Silvian's magic sword has as many tricks as Lion-O's, he should be fine anyway."

"All right then," Luna said with a note of finality. She, Amok, and RedEye then departed in the same direction Selene had, and minutes later their ship—the only other royal vessel even remotely suited to such a mission—was bound for New Thundera.

* * *

Though the Thundercats were unaware of the trouble heading their way on two different fronts, the mood in the control room of Cat's Lair was tense. WilyKit paced back and forth while Cheetara sat in one of the chairs and little Chet, now with his mother rather than Snarf, played nearby on the floor with some of his toys. "WilyKit, calm down. You're a wreck," Cheetara said to the younger Thundercat with concern.

"Why isn't Kat back yet?" WilyKit worried. "He should've landed hours ago. I called Lynx-O and he told me when WilyKat left, and he's beyond late now. I can't get a hold of the Feliner's communication systems. I've tried every channel and even a few tricks I know to tune in bad signals, but I got nothing. It's like he's ignoring all communications or something's keeping them from reaching or locating him. Why would he do that?"

"I don't know," Cheetara answered, perplexed. "You're right, it's not like him to ignore us."

WilyKit's frown deepened. "Which is why I can't help but think something's happened to him." She fell silent for a moment, and then looked at Cheetara imploringly. "What do you think? I mean, have you had any hunches, any flashes, or anything like that with your sixth sense?"

"Nothing specific," she said with a shake of her spotted mane, and then added, "although I did get a tingle of something a little while ago, but it was so nondescript that I brushed it off. That happens to me sometimes, and worrying about it only drives me crazy when it's so vague."

"Was it about WilyKat?" the female Thundercat twin pressed.

Cheetara shook her head again. "No. It was dark and vague. It made me think of Mumm-Ra, actually." She shuddered involuntarily. "But we don't have any reason to believe that he could be back. I'm sure the Eye of Thundera would've warned Lion-O, and if it had, he would've said something."

The mention of Mumm-Ra only served to increase WilyKit's anxiety. "If whatever it is isn't something that can block that along with the Feliner's communication systems." She looked at the monitor and still saw no sign of any incoming crafts. "Mumm-Ra could do that, if he was still around… but that's not likely," she conceded uneasily.

"No, Mumm-Ra is…" Cheetara's voice trailed off as the vague sense of something wrong tickled her senses once more, much like it had earlier, and most strongly when she spoke their old adversary's name.

"What?" asked WilyKit, standing up and taking a few steps closer to the cheetah.

She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, and the intangible sensation grew stronger, morphing into something more sinister and, disturbingly, familiar. "I'm not so sure," Cheetara said, her voice just above a whisper as she did her best to focus.

After casting a quick glance at Chet to make sure he was not unduly alarmed, WilyKit went to Cheetara's side and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cheetara? Are you all right?"

The cheetah nodded, although the more she concentrated and the clearer the message from her sixth sense became, the less accurate her assertion was. The overwhelming sense of fear and despair surrounded her. She imagined a place that was dark and cold, and a distraught soul trapped and helpless in the grasp of an ancient and evil power. As her mind reached out to this soul in distress, she realized that this was no stranger suffering, but someone familiar and dear to her. Cheetara concentrated harder and saw a glimpse of his unconscious face… just as a powerful, violent, and dark psychic force slammed into her mind, blocking her out.

Cheetara reeled as though she had been struck in reality, and her eyes opened with a start as she realized what had happened. "WilyKat!"

"What happened? Where is he? Cheetara?" WilyKit's worried questions came out in a rush.

She met the other Thundercat's eyes with an equally anxious look. "I got a sense of someone suffering and surrounded by evil—an evil a lot like Mumm-Ra's—and when I sought out who it was, I saw WilyKat." She rose to her feet with a sense of urgency. "And then whatever is holding him must've noticed, because I was forced out. It was like a psionic shield made of dark energy."

Chet looked up from where he was playing and stared at his mother and WilyKit. "Mumm-Ra," he said, and then resumed pushing the ball he had in front of him on the floor as though it was an everyday word.

Cheetara and WilyKit exchanged looks, and Cheetara then went to her cub's side. "What did you say?" she asked gently.

"Mumm-Ra," Chet repeated. "Torlei."

WilyKit gasped, while Cheetara's eyes went wide in shock. Although Mumm-Ra's name could have just been a simple repetition, as they had mentioned it in their conversation, the undead bride he had partnered with once on Third Earth had not been mentioned by any of them in years, before Chet had even been born. "How does he know who she is?" WilyKit asked, her stomach in knots as she imagined the worst. "I haven't even given that Lunatac a thought in ages. She died back on Third Earth!"

Chet eyed them with a look far too somber for one so young, and then said, "Got Kat. Pyramid."

Although she already suspected what the answer was—that her son had inherited her extrasensory abilities—Cheetara asked him anyway. "What made you say those things, sweetie?"

"Saw it Mommy," Chet answered, a tremble in his plaintive little voice. "Bad. Scary."

"Saw it where?" WilyKit asked, also kneeling beside him. "It's very important."

"Dark place."

WilyKit closed her eyes as the child confirmed what she and Cheetara had both feared. "Mumm-Ra's pyramid."

"Pyramid," repeated Chet.

"I have to help him!" WilyKit said, and before even the swift Cheetara could react to stop her, the female Thundercat twin was on her feet and on her way to get her weapons and save her brother.


	6. Illusions - Part Three

WilyKit set the ThunderClaw, the best vehicle available at the Lair at the time, down in the bleak lands that surrounded the ruins where Mumm-Ra's supposedly "abandoned" pyramid stood. "Still creepy as ever," she muttered as she took the sight of it in up close for the first time in many years. Lightning did not crackle above it, though, and by appearances it still seemed just like it did after Mumm-Ra's defeat in the Book of Omens. _But is it abandoned?_

Scanning for the entrance, the gleam of metal in the edge of her peripheral vision caught her eye. It was the Feliner. "WilyKat!" she exclaimed, and ran first to the vehicle. _He's here after all,_ she thought, and then frowned when she saw that the old spacecraft was empty and there was no sign of her brother in it. Although no sign of a crash, forced landing, damage, or injury was evident, his total absence was disconcerting. _Chet was right, but why would he land here?_ Curious, she switched on the radio, and it functioned normally. _It's working now… so why didn't he answer my calls?_

She hopped out of the Feliner and turned back toward the black pyramid once more. "Why on Thundera or Third Earth would you land here and go exploring?" the puzzled Thundercat said. If Mumm-Ra was back somehow, or the Lunatac he once teamed up with—she tried to banish the unsettling thought—the Thundercats would know, right? Why would the dark pyramid look so, for lack of a better word, lifeless, unless all the unnatural life was gone from it as they believed it to be?

_Could some new, other evil force have moved in?_ That possibility was no less reassuring, and only strengthened her resolve to find her brother and get him out of there.

"WilyKat!" she shouted as she made her way into the pyramid. "Kat! Are you here?"

Just like her brother had earlier when he had come looking for her, the only answer WilyKit got was an ominous silence. She made her way through the dusty and twisty corridors, continually calling for her brother with no response. "Come on, Kat, what's the deal? Did you miss Mumm-Ra's old place more than your own sister?" she joked, more as a way to stave off her own uneasiness than anything else.

After what felt to her like an eternity, she finally reached the heart of the dark pyramid, Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus chamber. The powerful sense of evil—evil very much vibrant and alive as opposed to the distant trace it should have been—overwhelmed her as soon she crossed the threshold. "Even worse than I remember when Mumm-Ra was here," she muttered. Her skin began to crawl as she noticed not one, but two sarcophagi in the room, and that the pool in the center of the room was active and bubbling. "Gods," she breathed, and raised her flashlight to scan the dimly lit area for any sign of her brother.

She nearly dropped it when the beam pierced the shadows behind one of the four grotesque totem statues in the room. WilyKat was there, bound in chains that were the telltale color of Thundrainium, and hanging limply from the wall.

"WilyKat!" WilyKit was at her brother's side in a flash. "Oh, please don't be dead!" Relieved as she could see him breathing up close, she realized that she had to get him away from the Thundrainium as soon as possible. "Hang in there," she said, and then grimaced at her poor choice of words. "Your big sister'll get you out of this." Though she was the older of the twins only by a matter of minutes, it was something that she fondly teased him about, and she hoped that it would give him comfort.

The male twin stirred when he felt WilyKit's touch and heard her voice. "Kit," he mumbled, "Kit, is that you?"

WilyKit fished a pinpoint explosive pellet from her pouch and took careful aim at the chains above his head. Breaking the ones that suspended him would get him down, and from there she could figure out how best to deal with the Thundrainium in close contact. "Don't worry," she reassured him. "I'll get you out of this horrible place and back to the Lair."

"Will you now?" a cruel voice sneered from behind them.

Whirling around, WilyKit found herself face to face with Torlei. Though she had not seen the undead Lunatac when the Thundercats tangled with her all those years ago, she fit the description and to the startled Thundercat twin, was a frightening sight to behold. "What? Are you—?"

"I'm someone you didn't expect to show up." Torlei laughed nastily and raised her hand, aglow with evil energy.

"What have you done to my brother?" WilyKit demanded, and took a defensive stance.

Torlei hurled the energy blast at her. "So you're the twin. Showing such devotion to your brother… how fortunate for me. I can have a matched set."

WilyKit leapt out of the way, avoiding harm both to herself and the bound WilyKat. "I don't think so," she countered, and threw the pellet originally intended for the chains at the undead Lunatac instead. Torlei straightened and held out her palm as the Thundercat moved to strike, and the pellet exploded on an invisible shield separating the two of them.

"I do," Torlei then said, and pushed her hand forward. The telekinetic barrier that separated them burst forward and barreled into WilyKit, knocking her to her knees and taking her breath away. Without giving her the chance to react, Torlei then summoned and hurled a burning globe of energy at WilyKit that surrounded and burned her skin, making her cry out in pain just as it had WilyKat when she trapped him in it. "And since he's so dear to you, you can hang right next to your brother."

With a wave of her hands and a quick murmured spell, Torlei had the incapacitated WilyKit bound into Thundrainium chains identical to WilyKat's. When she was certain that they were both secure, she approached and eyed her newest capture curiously. "So tell me, WilyKit, how did you find him? Did that telepathic cheetah figure it out before I got the psychic block in place?"

"How can you block Cheetara's powers?"

"The same way I can block your satellite signals and the magic of your nosy Thundercat sword. I was a master telekinetic when I was alive, Thundercat, and the Ancient Spirits of Evil have enhanced what I had in life to a level no mortal could ever match in death," she boasted, and sneered at her. "But I suppose you might not've known that. You weren't there when I met your friends, after all. You and your brother were with that blind old cat Lynx-O coming to save the day after your Lord called for you to come rescue him. In that case, allow me to introduce myself." She swished her long gray hair over her shoulder in an arrogant flourish. "I am Torlei, the eternal bride of Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living." She narrowed her blazing red eyes. "Or you may better know me as the one your brother shot into the volcano years ago."

WilyKit struggled to keep her strength in vain as the Thundrainium sapped her energy. "You were supposed to be destroyed… dead…"

"I've been dead ever since Luna killed me the first time, but it didn't stop me then, and it didn't do me in when your brother tried to kill me either." The undead Lunatac drew back her hand and made a striking motion that sent WilyKit's head reeling with an equivalent telekinetic slap that packed an additional burning sting. "Like I defined it for your brother, 'ever-living' means eternal. Like weeds in a garden, you can try to get rid of us, and you may even think you have for a short time, but we'll always come back."

"Luna killed you… you were one of the Lunatacs," WilyKit said, and recalled from the others' accounts of the event that she and Mumm-Ra had attacked and attempted to kill them as well.

Torlei regarded her coldly. "I presume you mean Luna's group on Third Earth and aren't stating the obvious about my mortal race, but yes. In another lifetime, anyway, but make no mistake, my disloyal brother and his equally worthless friends are nothing to me now. Soon they'll meet their end as will everyone who has wronged me. Mumm-Ra and I are going to destroy anyone that would stand in our way of ruling all of New Thundera, Plundarr, and its Moons in ultimate evil. And yes, WilyKit, before you ask, he is here, and very much alive and burning for revenge. You thought him eliminated in the Book of Omens?" She laughed. "Oh no. He was merely weak for the last twelve years, resting and biding his time, but he did survive, and he's now stronger than ever."

WilyKit glared at her gloating captor. "You won't win. The Thundercats will never let New Thundera fall into your hands, and even if you can block the Eye of Thundera and Cheetara, they'll still find us."

"Oh? And how would that be?"

"Do you think that Cheetara is the only cat with a sixth sense on all of New Thundera?"

Torlei's brow rose. "The only one close to the Thundercats… or is she?" She took a few steps closer to WilyKit and stared deeply into her eyes, using her psi abilities to pierce her mind. In horror, WilyKit realized the gist of what Torlei was attempting, and did her best to look away out of fear for Chet. Unfortunately the depth of emotion in her panicked thoughts essentially broadcasted the very name she wanted to avoid revealing.

"Chet," Torlei said, enunciating the name the way a predator would speak of a mouth-watering morsel. "The toddler cub of Lion-O and Cheetara?" She grinned. "Ah, so the boy inherited his mother's powers, did he? Who knew one so young could speak well enough to cause me such trouble? Well then, I suppose he'll just have to be silenced—for good." A diabolical smile spread across her face.

"No!" The groggy WilyKat growled with as much energy as he could muster, trapped as he was. "Leave him alone!"

WilyKit struggled with a desperate surge of adrenaline. "Chet's an innocent child! He's done nothing to you or anyone else!"

Their protests were in vain. "The cub's existence, if he can block my powers, is a threat, and threats must be appropriately dealt with, Thundercat." Her eyes glowed with malevolence. "His tender age is of no consequence to me, and besides, Lion-O and Cheetara won't mourn their child for long. They won't live long enough themselves."

WilyKat snarled and struggled in his chains. "You lay one hand on that kid and I'll—"

"You'll what?" the unimpressed Torlei retorted. "You're in no position to threaten me!"

The exchange was interrupted when Mumm-Ra materialized in the center of the chamber in his mummified form. "What in the name of Osiris is all this yelling about?" he demanded, noticing that now a second Thundercat had joined the first one his bride had captured in his absence.

"Darling, look what I've caught," Torlei boasted, and gestured to WilyKit. "The female Thunder-twin. She came to save her brother. Isn't that heartwarming?" she said sarcastically. "I should've had such loyalty out of Alluro."

Mumm-Ra eyed the captive Thundercats for a moment, and then turned back to his wife. "You've been out playing again, I see. I do hope you haven't tipped our hand?"

Torlei frowned at the implication. "Of course not. She came to me. I never had to leave the comforts of home."

"Good," Mumm-Ra replied. "We have no need to concern ourselves with them now, then. Before long, all of the Thundercats will meet their end, regardless of where they spend their final moments. Ratar-O is on his way to claim the Sword of Plundarr from me, at the urging of his ancestor 'Ratilla'. From there, he'll go to the Thundercats to avenge his Mutant pride, and by then, that fool Prince Silvian and his MoonSaber should make their appearance. As Lion-O defends himself at 'Jaga's' warning, the three ancient swords will clash and all we will have to do is recite the Incantation of Destruction." He cackled. "The Thundercats, Mutants, and Lunatacs will all be laid to waste and we'll be there to take what remains." Mumm-Ra turned and cast the captive WilyKat and WilyKit a triumphant grin. "You two may survive being so far from the battle itself, but most likely you'll perish in the apocalyptic reaction. If not, you'll make fine examples with which to frighten the survivors into submitting to our rule."

"It won't work," WilyKit said defiantly. "The real Jaga will just appear to Lion-O and tell him the truth. Or Cheetara's sixth sense will warn them. You can't fool them all."

"Can't I?" laughed Mumm-Ra. "I fooled Silvian. I fooled Ratar-O... and if I do say so myself, I can be a convincing Jaga as well." He stepped to the edge of his cauldron and raised his hands in supplication to his spirit masters. "Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform your servant Mumm-Ra into the likeness of Jaga the Wise, deceased Thundercat!" The statues rumbled, and projected a beam of transformative energy that surrounded Mumm-Ra and changed him into the spitting image of a ghostly Jaga. "It's been delightful, Thundercats, but I must be going," he said to WilyKit and WilyKat in an eerie mockery of Jaga's voice. "I have an appointment with the Lord of the Thundercats to keep before Ratar-O and Silvian arrive."

As Mumm-Ra vanished in a sinister flash of light, Torlei regarded the bound twins smugly. "As for your hopes of a psychic warning, consider them trounced. I've already got barriers to the astral plane, the magic of the Eye of Thundera, Crescent of the Moons, and Serpent Eyes of Plundarr, _and_ to your friend Cheetara's sixth sense in place. I do thank you for the tip about the loose end of the little cub though. I'll take care of that right now, and actually, the disappearance of the child will serve as the perfect distraction to upset the Thundercats enough to not even think twice about whatever 'Jaga' tells them."

She summoned Ma-Mutt to her side. "Keep an eye on our kitties like a good boy, and I'll save some Thundercat bones or a snarf hide for you later."

While the demon dog barked in acceptance of Torlei's command, she folded her arms across her chest and vanished, teleporting herself out to see to her evil task. WilyKit and WilyKat were left behind in their binds, struggling in vain and praying that their friends would see through the evil ever-livings' machinations in time.

* * *

As Prince Silvian's ship neared New Thundera, the tension amongst the four passengers it carried was growing. Silvian paced the length of the bridge, anxious about the upcoming confrontation with the Thundercats. Even though he had the MoonSaber, which was supposed to give him power great enough that he should be near invincible according to legend, the fact that the Lord of the Thundercats had the Sword of Omens giving him equivalent power undermined his confidence significantly. In addition, Lord Lion-O was well seasoned in combat, unlike him. Frostor and the others had taught him basic fighting skills and how to defend himself, but as a ruler his experience was more in strategy and with a home court advantage. He had none of that working in his favor on New Thundera. Even the strength of his conviction that he was doing the right thing for his people and the support of his more battle-hardened companions was not enough to make him think that it would be easy.

Meanwhile, Chilla and TugMug also pondered how the upcoming fight with the Thundercats was going to go. The last time they had fought, when Captain Cracker had sprung them from their prison on Way Out Back, their entire group had been humiliatingly defeated in short order by a handful of Thundercats, a snarf, and Mandora. It seemed that they had no sooner broken out than they were locked back up locked up again. Fortunately for them they managed to escape and stay free not long afterward, but that was largely because they avoided any area associated with the Thundercats like a Thundercat did Thundrainium. Both Chilla and TugMug remembered that old humiliation very well, and while they were eager to deal the Thundercats some long overdue retribution, they also knew better than to underestimate them.

Seated farthest from the console was Frostor, buried deep in one of his tomes of Lunar-Plundarrian history. On the seat beside him was an array of other documentation, and two other books. Reading was the Governor General's own way of keeping nervousness at bay. The trip they were taking to New Thundera with Silvian and the MoonSaber to fight the Lord of the Thundercats bore chilling similarities to the dream Psiarik had related to him, but Frostor clung to the hope that they had circumvented what the nightmare prophesized by changing the key point of leaving Selene on the Moons. Frostor had not put it that way to her at the time, but he figured if things did go badly and by some off chance Mutants did show up, Selene would be spared and the Moons would be safely in her hands. Since it was she that had been in the ceremony in Psiarik's dream and not Silvian, things could not occur as they did in the psi's nightmare, he reasoned.

Still, that was not enough to quiet all of Frostor's ill musings on the subject. The fact that Chillandra's ghost had appeared out of the mists of the past to warn Silvian to undertake the mission meant that at the very least, the Thundercats had designs on the Lunatacs' sword, and other things hinted to him that some force was at work that had full awareness of the ancient legends. What it ultimately meant was anyone's guess, but Frostor doubted that it was anything good. He only hoped they could piece it together in time.

He turned to a page of his book containing yet another biographical account of Chillandra, Mistress of the Cold. It was one of several he had read so far. Given that she was the one who had urged Silvian onto the mission without delay, it made sense for him to find out all he could about her. That particular account was the first he looked at that had a clear photograph of her. The others that had pictures at all were sketches or artistic renditions in portrait style, so while they gave him a basic idea of what she looked like and showed the resemblance to Chilla that Silvian and Selene had previously mentioned, they did not give the sort of detail an actual photograph did.

The icewalker's eyes widened when he saw it, and he drew a sharp breath. It was far more than a passing resemblance. Chilla looked enough like King Mallar's long gone ice sorceress to be her sister, or her daughter. "Dear gods," Frostor said, even as his mind raced through documented fact and rumor. _Some said she went so far as to marry and have a family to protect her identity when she went into hiding…_

"What is it, Frostor?" Silvian asked.

"It's Chilla, I mean, Chillandra! Look!" He held out the book and pointed to the picture, eyeing Chilla in a completely new light.

"What are you talking about?" Chilla frowned and walked over to take a look, while Silvian nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, I told you she looked like her."

Frostor handed Silvian the book, who almost immediately passed it on to a curious TugMug while Frostor spoke. "Yes, I remember you saying that, and I've seen some of those artistic representations too. I think I might've even seen the image of the old portrait in the palace you mentioned, the one King Mallar commissioned. But those things are subjective and I'd chalked it up to coincidence." He looked at Chilla for another long moment. "But now that I've seen an actual photo, I'm compelled to wonder. The resemblance is startling."

"He's right," TugMug agreed, glancing between Chilla and the picture in the book. "You got something you want to tell us?"

Letting out a humorless hiss of frost as she yanked the book from the graviton's hands, Chilla said, "Give me that!" She eyed the picture of Chillandra, which showed the long gone Mistress of the Cold from the shoulders up. She had to admit that King Mallar's advisor did bear a strong resemblance to her, at least in facial features and bone structure, although she saw nothing compelling beyond that. She handed the book back to Frostor and shot TugMug an unimpressed look. "I have no idea why I would look like her."

"Maybe you're related," Silvian suggested.

"I don't think so," Chilla replied icily. "I don't have any family."

"After the disasters a lot of us don't, but it could be that she was a relation to you, couldn't it?" argued Silvian, while TugMug laughed.

"Besides, Alluro said that and wound up with a son. Like they say, anything's possible."

"I'm not Alluro, and I don't have children floating around the universe. If I had one, I'd know about it, don't you think?" she said sarcastically.

That time Silvian laughed. "I'd hope so. Besides, she'd be old enough to be _your_ mother, not the other way around."

Chilla's expression darkened dangerously. "My mother was no Third Moon courtier."

"Touchy subject?" Frostor asked, noticing her sudden shift to a very foul mood. He thought again of the rumors about Chillandra hiding her identity by creating a family on Lixuvekh.

TugMug waved away the ice woman's frosty demeanor dismissively. "With Chilla, anything can be a touchy subject. Like a true icewalker, she always runs hot and cold."

"Would you prefer to be frozen or burned then?" the irate Chilla snarled at TugMug before addressing Frostor's remark. "As for my mother, she had no use for me, so I have none for her. She was just some drifter that took up with my father. He probably picked her up in a bar. He wasn't very discriminating. He always managed to find a whore to keep him company before they got sick of him too."

Silvian offered Chilla a sympathetic look. "Your mother left him, I take it."

"When I was a baby. I don't even remember her. That's what my father told me, anyway, when he was sober enough to get the story straight." She looked away. "So I'm sure you'll all excuse me if I _don't _want to talk about her."

Although he could tell that Chilla's patience for the conversation was treading on thin ice, so to speak, given the situation he pressed her for more details anyway. "What about her family? Didn't she have sisters, brothers, or parents that asked about her? Were you an only child?"

"I told you she was a drifter," Chilla replied tersely. "She had no family that my father knew, and no, I don't have any brothers or sisters. Being impregnated by him once was apparently enough for her." She glared icicles at them, clearly fed up with the conversation. "And I can tell you flat out that my father and his family aren't related to anyone who'd have been in the lunar king's court. If they were, they'd have milked it for everything it was worth. My father loved to call in favors; it got him more money to waste on his pleasures."

Chilla's denial only made Frostor's suspicions stronger. While the description of Chilla's father was certainly not that of anyone a royal lunar would have been caught dead associating with, it also made sense that someone of his court trying to hide would have a perfect cover in seeking the company of individuals like that. What facts Chilla had given about her mother were consistent with speculation that had been made about Chillandra's whereabouts after the recovery and hiding of the MoonSaber. The more he thought about it, the more the notion that Chilla was indeed Chillandra's child made sense to him. "Chilla," Frostor said, rising to his feet and meeting her gaze evenly, "I remember from my studies on Luna and those in her association that you were very adept with your ice-born powers. Yet you were young when you left the moons, barely out of your teens, am I right?"

She regarded him dubiously, but did answer. "Yes."

"From what you've said, your father wasn't high society. What class was he? Working class, I presume? Your average Lixuvekh citizen?"

"If you call being a drunk with a short temper that worked in the marine drilling docks that, yes. I'm not noble-born." Her breath grew frosty with impatience.

"And your mother? I understand she's a sore spot… but do you think it's possible that if Chillandra did assume a new identity and sought a new and unassuming life on Lixuvekh, she _could_ have been your mother? That it's possible?"

Chilla had reached the end of her patience for the invasive line of questioning. "I told you that I didn't want to talk about this," she hissed angrily. "My mother's name _wasn't _Chillandra; I can tell you that much. So drop it and stop looking for things that aren't there!"

Frostor was not deterred. "Are you sure? She looks a lot like you Chilla, and you can't deny that. If you're sure Chillandra wasn't your mother, then who was she? Where did she come from? Who was her family and where did she go when she left you?"

"I don't know and I don't care!" Chilla raged, and spat a blast of ice at Frostor's empty chair arm. She now understood why Psiarik had reacted the way he had about discovering that Alluro was his father. Having one's family skeletons forcibly dragged from the proverbial closet in front of an audience by nosy strangers was a miserable experience.

Silvian meanwhile studied the photograph of Chillandra. "You know, as a name, 'Chilla' is a shortened version of 'Chillandra'. If what you're saying is true, Frostor, maybe Chillandra named her child after herself in memory of the life she gave up."

Frostor glanced at the ice coating she had given his chair, but otherwise ignored it. "When and where were you born, Chilla? I know when Chillandra disappeared. If you want to prove me wrong, a date and place is an easy way to do it."

"Fine." Chilla glowered at him and gave him the date and place of her birth on Lixuvekh.

Unfortunately, rather than prove him wrong, Frostor reacted as though it validated his theory further. "The MoonSaber was recovered from the Thundercat about forty miles from that town, and you were born just shy of a year from when Chillandra and the MoonSaber disappeared." A triumphant look crossed his face. "Long enough to meet someone and bear a child."

While Chilla's scowl deepened, Frostor took a step closer and challenged her further. "As I said before, Chilla, you're very skilled with our natural powers. A number of full-blooded icewalkers can't aim and channel heat even after years of practice after reaching adulthood. Yet you were young when you were with Luna, fighting like a pro, or one that had been trained from youth. You said your father was no one special, Chilla, so did he train you?"

"Only in defending myself," Chilla snapped. "He was violent, and treated me like I was worthless. He saw me as a nuisance that my mother left him with. He resented me and directed what he couldn't take out on her at me. Of course I caught on quick how to fight back! I'm not weak."

Frostor nodded. "And our powers are hereditary. The daughter of someone like Chillandra, even without training, would be expected to be at the very least, above average. In the right circumstances, she would be exceptional. Many would call you that, Chilla. Do you disagree?"

Chilla's ego would not let her deny that, although she refused to give Frostor the satisfaction of verbally conceding. "I've already told you what little I know about my mother," she said with a tone of finality. "This conversation is over."

Shaking his head, Frostor said, "We don't have the luxury of time to do that now, Chilla. If you are Chillandra's daughter, then it's very significant considering she's the one who sent Silvian and us on this mission." He exhaled a frost-filled sigh of his exasperation. "Great moon gods, Chilla, don't you see it? The ancient prophecy is coming to life all around us!"

"Prophecy?" a puzzled Silvian interjected. "You don't mean that dream Psiarik's been talking about with that riddle at the end?" When Frostor nodded an affirmative, Silvian sighed and shook his head. "I hate to burst your bubble, Frostor, but I think Psiarik's just messed up and a step off of cracking. He can't deal with stuff on a good day, but between what's come up with the MoonSaber and his father turning up out of the past I'd chalk it up to being psychotic rather than psychic."

"And I respectfully disagree," Frostor asserted. "Think about it: 'When the past becomes the present and the ancient struggle is set in motion, only the impossible can stop the inevitable.' Well the past _is_ becoming the present all around us! First there was the MoonSaber resurfacing after being gone fifty years." He held up his hand, counting off the points he was making on his fingers. "Then Luna and her crew, a time anomaly themselves from thirty years ago, return, and two of them turn out to be blood relations to rulers in power now." He lowered another finger. "Now there's the ghost of Chillandra, from your grandfather's generation, telling you that her old enemy—the Thundercat Snoelle—has been freed from the prison she put her in fifty years ago, and she's inciting the Thundercats into completing her failed mission." He shook his hands in an aggravated fashion and pointed to Chilla. "And whether she's willing to believe it or not, I'm convinced that she's Chillandra's child, yet another tie of the past becoming present!"

The others fell silent while Frostor ranted in an almost feverish way, until TugMug ended it. "Frostor, have you been smoking something back here?"

"Gods damn it all, TugMug, I'm being serious!"

"So am I," the graviton said, eyeing warily.

"Funny," Frostor snapped with a clear lack of humor for the situation. "But this is no laughing matter. The past has already become the present, and now the second part, the ancient struggle being set in motion… I ask you, what struggle is more ancient than our Moons at war with Thundera or Plundarr itself?" When none of them immediately answered, he continued, "Our three worlds have been at odds for all of recorded interplanetary history! And here we go at it again, this time urged by Chillandra to fight the Thundercats—and specifically her old enemy Snoelle. Another, although not quite as ancient, struggle originating from the past. We're playing out the prophecy of the legend of the swords and the end of our worlds as we speak! Can't you see that?"

Silvian considered what the Governor General was saying, and a look of resigned comprehension filled his green eyes. "I—I see what you're getting at, Frostor, but we don't have a choice. Chillandra made it clear that if we don't stop the Thundercats now then our Moons are doomed anyway. At least this way we have a chance. They'll try to take what's ours regardless, and we owe it to our people to stop that."

TugMug frowned and shook his mohawked head. "I think I liked it better when I thought you were smoking something."

"And frankly, I wish I had a good frost-weed cigar myself right now," the ice general said with a sigh.

Chilla folded her arms and eyed her companions crossly. "I still think you're all nuts."

An alarm from the console sounded, notifying them that they had entered the airspace of New Thundera. "We can argue about it later," TugMug said as he wheeled over to check it. "We're here."

Laying a hand on the hilt of the MoonSaber, Silvian took a deep breath to steady his nerves. "It's now or never." He drew the ancient blade and raised it high. "To victory!"

"To victory!" each of the other three Lunatacs that had accompanied the prince echoed along with him. Frostor, however, was no longer confident at all that victory was within their grasp.

* * *

Mumm-Ra, disguised in the false form of Jaga, materialized into the chamber where Lion-O was sitting, deep in thought about how to resolve a clan dispute that would soon be rendered quite trivial. "Lion-O," Mumm-Ra called out in Jaga's voice.

Lion-O looked up with a start. "Jaga! What have you come to tell me?"

"Your future is in jeopardy, Lion-O," he said in a falsely somber tone. "Fierce enemies who want to destroy the Thundercats and all that they hold dear are on their way to attack. They mean to fight you to the death. You must protect New Thundera, Lion-O. The Sword of Omens and the Eye of Thundera will see you through it."

"What?" the surprised Lion-O exclaimed. "Who? We haven't had an attack aside from small gangs of raiders in years now. We're peaceful."

"Heed my warning," the fake Jaga said sternly. "First to arrive will be the Lunar-Plundarrian Prince Silvian. He brings old foes of yours with grudges to settle—Chilla and TugMug of the Lunatacs of Plundarr, as well as his own Governor General. They know about Snoelle and have come to finish what Chillandra did not, to mete out retribution to her and those who took her in with the MoonSaber."

"Chilla and TugMug?" Lion-O repeated, saying the familiar names first. "I thought all the Lunatacs had been locked up for good! And they're bringing the prince of the Moons of Plundarr and his general? They've incited a war against us?" The lion's brow wrinkled in confusion. "I don't understand, Jaga. I've never even met the Lunatac prince."

"Jaga" floated closer to Lion-O and leaned toward him with a sense of urgency. "Now that they have the MoonSaber once more, they know they hold a power equal to that of the Sword of Omens. They not only want revenge, but to take New Thundera for themselves once the Thundercats are defeated."

Lion-O looked to his ghostly mentor with alarm. "They intend to enslave Thundera and colonize it? Just like in the wars you and my father fought?"

"Yes." The false Jaga nodded to the Thundercat Lord. "But not only the Lunatacs. The Mutants have reclaimed the Sword of Plundarr from Mumm-Ra's pyramid. Ratar-O's ancestor appeared to him and revealed its location to him so that he could take it and revenge against us for when I took it from Ratilla all those years ago. The Mutants mean to repay the debt with your blood, Lion-O."

"By Thundera!" Lion-O gasped. "And all of this is happening now? After all this time?"

"You must be ready, Lion-O," the spirit form of "Jaga" told him. "Keep the Eye of Thundera close and use its powers to defend New Thundera. You must not let them win, Lion-O, not at _any_ cost." Leaving Lion-O to ponder that ominous warning, the fake Jaga then vanished from his sight. Just as Mumm-Ra predicted he would, Lion-O immediately ran from the room to warn the other Thundercats.

From his vantage point of invisibly watching, Mumm-Ra chuckled to himself. _Easy as taking candy from a baby..._

* * *

In another part of the Cat's Lair, Torlei appeared in Chet's room. Taking a cue from her partner, she too took on a disguise, that of Cheetara, so that anyone who might pass by would only see the cub's mother in his room and think nothing of it. The false cheetah approached the now napping toddler's bed and scooped him up into her arms. "That's right, come to 'mommy', dear boy," she said with dark amusement.

As soon as she picked him up, Chet stirred and cried out. "Momma?" He looked at the woman holding him; she looked his mother, but he knew she was not. She was not warm and loving, but cold and frightening. He opened his mouth to scream.

The cub's cry was silenced with a telekinetic shock before it ever made it past his throat. "I'll not be outmaneuvered by a Thundercat brat," she hissed coldly, and shocked him again, that time enough to knock him unconscious. The frightened cub went limp in her arms.

"Good boy. After all, I can't have you rousing that wretched snarf nanny of yours and bringing him in here yet, now can I? Not when I promised his plump chops to Ma-Mutt." She tousled the boy's spotted mane in a mockery of affection and used her magic to teleport with him back to the black pyramid. No one in Cat's Lair was the wiser.

* * *

Hunched over a table in the MoonTower's study, Psiarik languished in a miserable silence mulling over the confrontation with Selene. He knew what fate awaited her chasing Silvian to New Thundera, and he cursed himself for not being able to stop her from going. He felt the world crashing down around him and helpless to change it. There had to be something he could do, but he had no idea what. If he obeyed her command, both she and Silvian would die. Although his dream had not shown Luna's presence, he had no faith that it would make any difference if Selene picked up the MoonSaber and sought vengeance on Silvian's killers. How could he let her rush headlong into her own death without doing everything in his power to stop it?

On the other hand, defying her order also had its consequences. If what was destined to happen on New Thundera was inevitable and both she and Silvian perished, the Moons would be left without their rulers. Being the queen's husband he, at least, would be able to maintain some semblance of peace before the throne was challenged and utter chaos erupted. If he went to New Thundera and died along with the others, that chaos was all but a guarantee. It would be the same lawless mayhem that they endured in the early days after the Thundera explosion disasters. He could not in good conscience let _that_ happen either.

But then why did doing the "right" thing of staying behind feel so very wrong? A large part of it was his personal stake in it. Selene was not just the queen of the Moons; she was his wife, a wife he loved dearly. Yet in his dream, when he was there, it was clear that his presence was meaningless. He would be powerless to change anything.

_Then why do I have to see it if it's inevitable?_ He stared at the wood grain of the table, willing the gods to tell him that. _There must be a reason I have these visions! _ _If only I knew why they were shown to me..._

From where he sat nearby, Alluro noted the troubled expression on his son's face and found himself at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, but had no idea what, so he just remained silent and hoped that Psiarik would find his presence a comfort rather than a nuisance. The younger psi must have felt Alluro's gaze on him, and he looked up at him with a baleful look that led Alluro to sigh and offer words of reassurance. "You know that she would've gone no matter what you said or did."

"What if I'd forced her? Maybe the others would've agreed, and the guards wouldn't have gotten involved at all if she couldn't get to them." He shook his head. "She would've hated me, but at least she'd be alive. I should've listed to that old adage of asking forgiveness instead of permission."

"Not bad advice in general, but not so much in this case," Alluro replied somewhat wryly.

"What would you have done?"

The elder psi raised a brow. "Marriage isn't in my repertoire of life experiences, but I suppose if it were my wife running off to what I was certain was her demise, I probably would've tried to thrall her too if I thought it'd work." He chortled. "Though unlike you, I know how resistant lunars are to hypnosis, especially when they're wound up into a tizzy."

Psiarik sighed and slumped over the table supported on his elbows. "It doesn't matter anyway. As Silvian pointed out, I suck at hypnosis, and what you just witnessed _was_ my best attempt."

"My son a poor hypnotist, I never would have imagined that," Alluro mused with a shake of his head. "What did Lurella teach you? Did you inherit her abilities? You must have some potential… you _are_ the son of Alluro after all." A smug smile tugged at the elder psi's lips.

"My mother and stepfather would've been the first living examples of spontaneous combustion not induced by telekinesis if I told them I seriously wanted to be a hypnotist. They never wanted me to be anything like you, and they never thought much of any hypnotist after that," Psiarik said with a rueful smile. "I didn't get any formal schooling in my psi abilities, just worked with what came naturally. My stepfather—my mother married him when I was about six—was a seer and helped me develop that a bit. I can't call visions forth, though, usually they happen at random like that dream. It's more annoying than anything else. I'm better at mind linking with others because I pick up on outside energies and emotions easily. My mother did teach me how to shield out destructive and antagonistic auras, and how to refine the ability to reach others if I need to, although she made sure to emphasize not to impose my own feelings on it." He eyed Alluro knowingly and added, "For obvious reasons."

"Indeed," Alluro said. "So you're strongest in empath abilities like hers."

Psiarik nodded. "They come fairly easily to me, though not like on the level of a psi healer or anything. The telekinesis aspect is too hard for me except in short, random bursts."

"I found the physical manifestations of our powers draining too. My sister was incredible with it, though." That time Alluro frowned, as he usually did when he thought of Torlei.

The same abilities that Psiarik had just been describing to his father tingled with a sense of bitterness, loss, and regret that seeped through his own depressed and anxious state, and he cast Alluro an understanding look. "You two were really close?"

"Very much so," Alluro told him. "Torlei was the only family I had most of my life. We were the only children of our parents, and they died when we were young. I barely remember them, and most of what I know of them is from what she told me. She cared for me much of the time. We spent much of our youth on our own with each other. We were nearly inseparable until the end." Alluro's expression grew darker as he recalled the events surrounding Torlei's demise, first the mortal one and then the immortal one years later. "Both times my sister was killed I was in the unenviable position of spectator. The first time it was Luna. Torlei had gone mad with power—she found some artifact that channeled the power of the same dark spirits that Mumm-Ra serves into her mind—and she went insane. When we wouldn't do as she demanded, she tried to kill us all, even me. Luna managed to get a weapon and fire it to stop her. She did." He paused and took a moment to steady his tone, although it did little to hide the magnitude of emotion behind it from Psiarik. "I didn't stop Luna, and I even forgave her for it. Of all the things I hold against Luna, that isn't one of them. Sometimes I loathe myself for it, but the truth is I can't say I would've done differently. Luna didn't intend to kill her." He let out a sardonic laugh. "Small wonder that Torlei came back into the afterlife hating us all and calling me a betrayer."

The hypnotist tapped his fingernail against the wooden table as he recounted the next part of the tale. "The second time around was no better. After Mumm-Ra resurrected her, she and he attacked and captured us, but the Thundercats managed to call for help—ironically, because I listened to their urgings to try and reach the sister I once knew instead of the insane hateful undead thing that called itself her. While I was trying to get through to her, Lion-O used the distraction to call his friends. She saw that as yet another knife in the back from me, and when the other Thundercats showed up, they blasted her into the magma of the volcano she and Mumm-Ra intended to seal us in. I still hate Lion-O for making her hate me that much more, although I suppose I could tell myself that she hated me already anyway, so what was the difference? I really had no choice, just like you didn't with Selene."

The mention of Selene brought the reality of Psiarik's own misery crashing back to him. "I can't live without Selene. I need her," he admitted in a moment of raw honesty. "She's what makes my life worth living. If she dies… I feel like I might as well die too."

Alluro found the statement a bit melodramatic, but he supposed that if he ever fell deeply in love with someone he would be prone to acting irrational too. He considered what he would do if he was in Psiarik's place, but knowing that what he would do generally got him into trouble that required smooth talking and use of his psyche club to get out of made him wonder whether he ought to give his son such advice. Therefore he only said, "If that's truly how you feel, then you need to do whatever it takes to make it not happen."

"Meaning what?"

So much for the easy way out, Alluro mused, and then offered his thoughts. "You may've had to let her go, but there's nothing to stop you from following her now that she can't get guards to stop you. There has to be someone here that can handle things with you all off-world. What about Lushara? She's a part of your court, isn't she?" When Psiarik nodded, Alluro nodded and smiled. "All right. Leave her then. Believe me, even though Selene claimed otherwise, a part of her will be pleased to see you show up to save her. Women enjoy being rescued. It feeds their egos." Psiarik smiled in spite of himself at that remark while Alluro continued. "And if things are as dire as you say, they'll need all the help they can get. Our powers may be needed."

"My dream makes me feel like I'm supposed to be there, but it also makes it seem like anything I do will be pointless and all I'll be doing is watching the inevitable."

"Your dream doesn't factor in the presence of Alluro," the hypnotist said boastfully.

"Actually it does," Psiarik said, frowning slightly. "You're in it at the very end. You say something like 'destiny' before I hear that voice call out the prophecy line and I wake up."

"That's all?" Alluro found himself somewhat let down by that notion, but it only discouraged him for a moment before his ego bolstered him once more. "Well, then if nothing else, then it's proof that we're destined to be there, right? And who knows what can happen with what you didn't dream?"

Psiarik rose to his feet. "You're right. If there's even a chance, we need to be there. I owe it to Selene to do whatever I can for her. Screw her royal orders. Let's go."

As soon as the two of them reached the door, they found Vultureman heading in, and the Mutant had overheard the tail end of their conversation. "Good luck trying to get there. All of the royal ships are gone. All the ones that would make the trip at a decent speed or in one piece anyway."

"All the royal ships perhaps, but not all of them," Alluro pointed out. "The ship that I came on with Luna and the others is still here. It's no high-class royal cruiser, but its weapons are excellent and it goes fast."

"You're willing to take your only ship?" Psiarik asked.

Alluro smiled at his son. "Consider it one of your many missed birthday presents."

"Thank you." Psiarik turned and gave Alluro an impulsive, but heartfelt, hug. The gesture caught the older psi by surprise, but it was not unwelcome, and it made him happy to know that he had truly gained his son's respect and affection. Psiarik then dashed to the door. "Come on. We don't have any time to waste. You go get the ship ready while I tell Lushara. Vultureman, go and get some of your biggest and baddest weapons, whatever you think will help keep Selene and Silvian and the others safe."

"Caw, you want me to go too?"

"Yes. You have experience with the Thundercats and Mumm-Ra."

The avian squawked again in protest. "That experience is why I'd rather stay as far from New Thundera as possible."

Alluro frowned at the Mutant. "I thought you were a vulture, not a chicken."

"Hah! Tough words from the first of the Lunatacs to run from a fight as soon as his crystal breaks."

"Any Mutant calling a Lunatac a coward is not only laughable, but insulting," Alluro retorted with narrowed eyes.

"Can't you have this argument on your way to the lab and hangar?" Psiarik prompted.

Taking the cue, both Vultureman and Alluro followed Psiarik down the hall. "You'll be impressed with what I'm going to bring. I have an anti-matter bazooka that makes the vari-cannon look like a water gun."

"It's not going to blow up while we're in deep space, is it?" Alluro asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

Vultureman let out an indignant caw. "Just because there were a few mishaps with inventions on Third Earth, it doesn't apply to _everything _I build."

"Only most of it, right?" Psiarik quipped knowingly. "That long-distance teleportation transporter you made a couple weeks back was a winner. Not only did it embed your test object halfway into a boulder, but when it overheated from burning too much Thundrainium at once, it took out half the patio and Selene's favorite potted dark moon fern."

Alluro laughed. "Sounds par for the course. Remember your little sound stone gun, Vultureman? Or how about your Thundrainium ray? And the vari-cannon, that blew up how many times?"

"At least nothing I created would've turned Selene's fern into a giant carnivorous monster," Vultureman retorted. Psiarik turned and cast a questioning look at them over his shoulder, and Vultureman cawed snidely. "Oh yes, ask Alluro about his 'multi-octane high-potential maximum-velocity fuel formula' sometime. It crashed Skytomb and then turned half of Castle Plundarr into plant food and its moat into fertilizer after Lion-O dumped it on Mutant-eating zinnias to get back at us for using it on them. Took us forever to clean it up."

"Please, like you ever cleaned Castle Plundarr," Alluro sniped back, while Psiarik shook his head and laughed.

"Nice work, Dad."

Hearing Psiarik refer to him as such was enough to make him forget to continue to insult Vultureman, and he gave the other psi a quizzical look. He smiled back and gave an impatient gesture before rounding the corner that would take him toward Lushara while Alluro and Vultureman headed lower. "Have everything ready by the time I get down there."

"Right," Alluro replied, and continued on with a sense of peace. Despite the dire circumstances facing their friends and allies, at least some things were looking brighter.

* * *

The Rat-Star landed in the ruins outside the black pyramid on New Thundera. Ratar-O disembarked his ship, accompanied by Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian. As soon as he had left after Ratilla had appeared to him, the Mutant Warrior King had summoned the Mutants that had been on Third Earth to him given their history and familiarity with Mumm-Ra. They had also escaped Way Out Back some years ago, and had returned to Plundarr afterward. They had received mixed receptions. The reptilians considered Slythe disgraced by his failures on Third Earth and subsequent capture on Way Out Back, and refused to reinstate him to any position of importance. Ratar-O had heard of that and took a sadistic sense of pity on his former cook, and offered him employment with him—starting in the kitchens. At first Slythe had angrily refused, but when Ratar-O promised he would promote him if he proved his worth and throw his clout in his favor among the reptilians, his pride forced him to relent. Ratar-O only forced Slythe to endure the humiliation of kitchen duty for a year before promoting him to an advisory position, although that duty included such mundane tasks as supervising the kitchen and janitorial staff and did not include anything political or military for another year.

Monkian's reception among the simians had been more mixed. He had been of high military rank and brother to a clan leader before his stint on Third Earth, and although his brother was dead and his nephew in charge of the clan on his return, the nephew had always respected and thought fondly of his uncle Monkian and made certain that he was well received amongst the simian clans as a whole. Their military was less accepting given his history of failure, much like Slythe's, so Monkian accepted an office in the private sector as a civilian noble guardsman for his nephew. The position included many creature comforts and a place in his nephew's grand home in the southeastern lands that were home to the monkey races, so his years after returning home were different, but not unpleasant. It had come as a surprise, then, when Ratar-O summoned him to his court to accompany him on the mission to New Thundera.

Jackalman, however, had a warm reception amongst the jackal clans. He had been popular amongst his kin and clansmen before the debacles of Third Earth and Way Out Back, and they were far more forgiving of those humiliating defeats, blaming—and rightfully so, Jackalman thought—Slythe's inept leadership. He was reinstated to his old position with the same honors, although he chose to retire from the military in favor of an office that his clan leader offered him—diplomat and courtier, representative of their clan in the royal house of the rats in the planet's capitol. Jackalman wore the robes of his office proudly and thrived as a politician where he had flaws as a soldier and tactician. Over the years he had married a pretty jackal female with silken fur the color of copper and what he considered an adorable licorice-black nose, and she had borne him a twin litter of pups that were now four standard years old.

As made their way into the black pyramid, Ratar-O eyed his companions and his mind wandered through memory and his previous dealings with them. Time had changed them some, but not enough to make them likeable to him. Still, their experiences with the demon priest from Third Earth made them an asset this time rather than a liability, and Ratar-O did not want any of those to foil his plans for revenge and conquest.

The stone doorway leading inside was open and waiting for them, and the ominous darkness of Mumm-Ra's abode bade them to enter. Ratar-O went first, with Slythe, Monkian, and Jackalman behind him. The Mutants had come to claim their fate, unaware that they were actually sealing it.

* * *

Torlei returned to the pyramid with the unconscious Chet in her arms. From where they hung helplessly in their chains WilyKit and WilyKat looked on in horror.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" WilyKat yelled at the undead Lunatac.

"If you insist," Torlei said sarcastically, and then added, "At least not until the hour is right." She summoned a Thundrainium shackle that fit around the cub's midsection to keep him weak and quiet and left him in the corner just out of the twins' reach. "He'll keep until the destruction is fully underway, and if that doesn't kill him, he'll make an even more meaningful warning that we mean business to any rebellious survivors than you two will. All things considered, I'd rather not stain my nice clean clothes with blood or have to smell burnt cat hair if I electrocute him. Even we ever-livings have a sense of smell."

Mumm-Ra in the guise of the false Jaga rematerialized on the dais and morphed back into his mummy form to conserve his magical energy until it was most needed. "I have returned, and just in time. Ratar-O arrives with the Mutants as we speak." He gestured to the image of the Mutants landing outside the pyramid and walking towards it in his pool and chuckled. "As a bonus, Ratar-O has brought along that fool Slythe and his band of idiots from Third Earth. This will be delicious, watching those buffoons finally get what they deserve along with Luna's wretched crew and the Thundercats. You have no idea how long I've wanted to see that repulsive reptilian get his."

Grimacing, Torlei said, "First these Thundercats, and now Mutants. We'll never get the stench out of our home."

"Two corpses talking about a stench? Did you two rotting bodies ever get a good whiff of yourselves?" WilyKat called out snidely. Even under such circumstances, he still had his wit, and at least he could insult the ever-livings if he could not break free and fight them.

Any response that Mumm-Ra or Torlei would have made was cut off when Ratar-O, Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian entered the sarcophagus chamber. Mumm-Ra stood at the head of his platform while Torlei and Ma-Mutt joined his side. "Ah, Mutants. The Ancient Spirits of Evil told me that you would arrive. I've been expecting you, Ratar-O, but I didn't realize you'd bring company."

"Ugly company at that," Torlei muttered, and Ma-Mutt barked in agreement.

Jackalman frowned at the unexpected presence of what seemed to be a female Lunatac, although he suspected that she was not a typical one but a witch of some sort given her pallor and glowing red eyes. "Nyah, and who are you anyway?"

Torlei's eyes blazed in fury at his rudeness, and she scowled nastily in his direction. "I'm someone you don't want to screw around with if you know what's good for you, jackal!"

The exchange inspired Mumm-Ra to grin with amusement. "Ah, that's right. You Mutants haven't met my wife."

"Hoo hoo, wife?" The Mutants exchanged incredulous looks, and Monkian nearly fell over in a fit of laughter at the preposterous notion. Jackalman, Slythe, and Ratar-O could not help but follow suit, albeit with less enthusiasm than the simian.

"So Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living now not only has pets but a wife too? What's next, a white picket fence around the pyramid and two kids, yessss?"

Despite the apparent humor the other Mutants found in it given the reinforcement of their laughter, Mumm-Ra found no amusement whatsoever in the reptilian's remark, and he shot the insolent reptile with a bolt of energy. "You will keep your mindless observations to yourself, Slythe!"

The display was enough to serve as a reminder of the ancient mummy's power, and the Mutants cooled their laughter. Jackalman then noticed the chained up Thundercats on the far wall of the chamber and eyed Mumm-Ra curiously. "You've got Thundercats prisoner here?"

"It's not a matter for you to be concerned with, jackal," Torlei warned the Mutant. "Stick to your business with Mumm-Ra. You are not welcome for an extended stay."

Although he knew he should have thought better of it, Jackalman could not resist making the quip that sprang to mind. "Nyah ha ha, does she boss you around too, Mumm-Ra? Wives are quite a handful, aren't they?"

That time Mumm-Ra roared in outrage and fired another blast of energy at the jackal's feet, causing him to yelp and skitter back several steps. "Don't try my patience, Mutant, or I assure you, you will live only long enough to regret it."

Irritated at the idiocy of his companions, Ratar-O turned and fixed an authoritative glare at them. "Shut up, all of you," he snapped, and then addressed Mumm-Ra. "Since you're eager to have us out of here, I'll take the Sword of Plundarr now and we'll be on our way."

Mumm-Ra gave Ratar-O a poisonous smile and extended the sword handle toward him. "Of course. Make sure you succeed in defeating the Thundercats. I know it's something you Mutants have had trouble with in the past."

"He's a fine one to talk," Monkian muttered under his breath, but if Mumm-Ra or Torlei heard it they chose not to acknowledge the remark.

Ratar-O meanwhile grinned as he took hold of the mystical weapon of his ancestors and felt its inherent power in his hands. He gave the sword a confident twirl, pleased with how natural the handling of it came to him. He could already imagine the delicious moment of victory that awaited him when he defeated Lion-O and conquered New Thundera for all of Mutant-kind.

Slythe, on the other hand, regarded the pair of ever-livings dubiously. One thing he had learned in his past dealings with the demon priest of the Ancient Spirits of Evil was that he was never generous without an ulterior motive. Although Ratar-O had told him he had returned the Sword of Plundarr so freely at the command of his evil masters given a deal struck with their own Plundarrian gods, he remained skeptical. Mumm-Ra did not act without there being something in it for Mumm-Ra. Was it self-preservation, or was it something more?

"Before we leave, Mumm-Ra, I have a quesssstion."

"What is it, reptilian?" Mumm-Ra eyed him with obvious disdain.

"Why are you giving ussss the Sword of Plundarr after keeping it for so long? What's in it for you?"

"I told you that already," Ratar-O snapped impatiently at the reptilian. "The Sword of Plundarr belongs with the Mutant Warrior King. Our gods only allowed it to remain with Mumm-Ra to punish Ratilla and Mutant-kind for losing it in battle to Jaga. They've agreed to allow us to have it again, and Mumm-Ra is returning it to its rightful owner."

"Yes," Mumm-Ra said, glowering at Slythe as though he was nothing more than an annoying insect that crawled upon the stone floor of his tomb. "I can use the Sword of Plundarr, but only the Mutant Warrior King can unlock its full powers. My magic allows me to tap into it, but I cannot control it like the one who is destined to wield it. Furthermore, the Thundercats are our mutual enemies. If Ratar-O can use it to wipe them off the face of the universe, why would I not allow him to do it? He is in my debt for the favor, after all," he said with a pointed look at the rat, "and all I ask is that you Mutants not interfere with my own plans for seeing New Thundera turned into a haven of evil. You Mutants would be wise to accept me as an ally, rather than question me. You do not want me for your enemy, as you ought to well know, Slythe."

"I won't forget who helps me rise to the top just as I won't forget who crosses me," Ratar-O said with a twitch of his whiskers. "What's important now is that I have the Sword of Plundarr, and the Thundercats' days are numbered. Now we can all have our revenge, so let's get on with it." He twirled the Sword of Plundarr again, and the ruby-red eyes of the serpent heads in its golden hilt flashed to mirror his intent.

As the four Mutants then headed for the exit, Monkian remarked, "Hoo, it's too bad Vultureman won't be here to see Lion-O get it. I bet he would've enjoyed it as much as we will."

"That turncoat buzzard?" snorted Slythe. "He left Plundarr to work for those miserable Lunatacs. He deserves nothing."

Mumm-Ra cackled and murmured to himself as he turned toward his sarcophagus. "Vultureman will see plenty."

Jackalman's ears twitched; although the mummy had spoken in a low tone, canine Mutant hearing was as sharp as that of the lesser animal species, and he paused and looked back at him. "What did you say, Mumm-Ra?"

"Nothing, Mutant. I merely said that it will indeed be a sight to behold. Now go, before Lion-O and the other Thundercats realize that you're on the planet. You should strike while you still have the element of surprise."

Jackalman frowned, but Ratar-O spoke up before he could reply. "He's right. Let's not waste any more time, my fellow Mutants." He strode out of the chamber with the others in tow, while Mumm-Ra, Torlei, and the captive Thundercats watched them leave. Mumm-Ra and Torlei then faced one another.

"Let the fun begin," Mumm-Ra said and cackled. His bride joined in with him, and their maniacal laughter echoed throughout the black pyramid. Ma-Mutt chimed in with a gleeful howl, while the helpless WilyKit and WilyKat looked on in despair.

"You won't get away with this," WilyKat shouted at them. "The Thundercats will stop you!"

Mumm-Ra only laughed back at him. "Will they now? We shall see." In a bright flash of magic, he and Torlei then teleported themselves out of the pyramid to watch the impending destruction begin.


	7. The Battle - Part One

Back in the Cat's Lair, Snoelle stared out the observatory window with a feeling of dread. Although she knew that she should be happy she had been found, freed, and was home among friends, she could not shake the feeling that there was something wrong and it had to do with her failed mission to take the MoonSaber from the Lunatacs all those years ago.

Panthro approached her and noticed her somber expression. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, as well as can be expected anyway," she answered with a wan smile, and then sighed. "I can't shake the feeling that something awful is about to happen, and that it's because of me and not recovering the MoonSaber. The vibrations from the astral world are unsettling and I can feel their influence here in the living world. It's not right, Panthro. I just don't know if it's because I should be dead after all these years and some force is out of balance, or if it's something more sinister than that."

The panther put his arms around her in a consoling gesture. "I can't imagine that you being found alive can be any kind of mistake. If you were meant to die in that ice, you would've." Panthro's views on spirituality were simple and uncomplicated, but full of conviction.

"I hope you're right," she said, easily settling into his embrace, "but I also hope that doesn't mean that I'm right on the other count, either."

The two were unable to continue their conversation further as Tygra's voice interrupted over the intercom. "All Thundercats come to the council chamber immediately! This is an emergency!"

Panthro and Snoelle exchanged looks of alarm. "I wonder what that's about," Panthro said, already heading toward the door.

"Whatever it is, it must be urgent," Snoelle replied, praying that it had nothing to do with the uneasy feelings that churned inside her.

* * *

While he waited for the rest of the Thundercats to arrive, Lion-O paced nervously across the floor of the council room. He, Cheetara, Tygra, Snarf, and Snarfer were already present, but there were still several Thundercats unaccounted for. "I can't believe this," Lion-O groaned. "After all this time, both the Mutants and the Lunatacs are attacking us out of nowhere? It makes no sense!"

"Well, no one's attacked yet at least," Tygra said from where he sat with anxious posture and folded hands. "Maybe we'll get lucky and this will turn out to be a false alarm."

Just as Tygra finished speaking, Pumyra entered the room with Panthro and Snoelle a few steps behind her. Snarf and Snarfer joined them a moment after that.

"That's everyone in the Lair," Cheetara said. Lynx-O and Bengali were still on Third Earth, and WilyKit had not yet returned from looking for WilyKat. Although Lion-O had called the meeting for other reasons, she had filled him in briefly on what had happened earlier with WilyKit, and she intended to bring that up as well. She had been almost ready to alert the others herself, but given that she had not heard from WilyKit asking for backup and that the Sword of Omens had not warned Lion-O of danger, she had held off initially.

Tygra noted the twins' absence. "Where are WilyKit and WilyKat?"

"WilyKat isn't back yet," explained Cheetara. "That's the other part of what this meeting is about. He's very late, actually, and WilyKit and I were concerned about him. Earlier, when WilyKit and I were waiting for him, she asked me if I'd had any hints from my sixth sense that he was in danger. He wasn't answering in the Feliner, and we didn't see it approaching anywhere in our airspace. When I tried to get a sense of WilyKat, I had this awful sense of evil that reminded me of Mumm-Ra. Then Chet said something that made our blood run cold—he said Mumm-Ra's name, and Torlei's."

"Torlei?" Pumyra repeated. "That dead Lunatac that he took as a bride back on Third Earth? I thought she was gone. And how on Thundera would Chet know about him? Or Mumm-Ra for that matter? He's been silent as the grave for years."

"His grave has never been silent," Panthro grumbled with a frown. "Damned mummy!"

Cheetara nodded somberly. "There's more. Chet also said 'got Kat' and 'pyramid'. I think he was having flashes of a sixth sense. Ordinarily I'd be proud to know he inherited that but—oh!" Suddenly Cheetara was struck with an overpowering dizzy feeling, and she lost her balance.

Snarfer and Lion-O were both at her side in a flash. "Cheetara, are you okay, snarfer snarfer?"

"I… where's Chet?" she asked, looking at the others with a sense of panic that surged out of nowhere. That time it was not just her sixth sense that she was feeling, but also maternal gut instinct. "Where is he?"

"In his room I'm sure," Snarf assured her with a worried twitch of his whiskers. "I just saw you in there checking on him during the nap I set him down for a short while ago."

The color drained from the cheetah's cheeks. "I haven't seen him since I left him with you, Snarf."

Snarf bounced up on his tail. "But I know I saw you! You were holding him, clear as day. I didn't want to bother you when I passed so I didn't say anything, but—"

"Snarf, by Jaga…" her voice trailed off in a horrified gasp. "That wasn't me."

"What do you mean?" Lion-O asked, his voice also rising with alarm.

"I'm sure I saw you, Cheetara. I wasn't mistaken, and I can tell a cheetah woman from a puma, snarf snarf," Snarf said indignantly, looking between her and Pumyra.

Tygra shook his head. "I can vouch that she was with me in the control room for a good while. She didn't leave, Snarf." A worried look filled the tiger's amber eyes. "You don't suppose… that it was some sort of illusion? Someone disguised to look like Cheetara?"

"But Mumm-Ra is gone!" Snarfer protested, not wanting to believe what the sinister signs hinted at. "He couldn't have—"

Before Snarfer could even finish his sentence, Cheetara was halfway out the door. "Lords of Thundera! I have to find Chet!"

"Damn!" Lion-O cursed, slamming his fist onto the council table in an unusual show of emotion. It was not like the Thundercat Lord to curse—old Snarf had raised him better than that, after all—but he felt as though he was at his wit's end. "My son… Mumm-Ra… and the Mutants and Lunatacs on top of all of it." When the others gave him a questioning look, he sighed and elaborated. "Cheetara and Tygra are already aware of this, since I filled them in on it before you got here, but the business with the twins isn't the only reason this meeting was called. I had a very disturbing visit from Jaga just before I had you all summoned here. He said that Ratar-O of Plundarr and a Prince Silvian of the Moons of Plundarr are both on their way, independently of each other, to challenge me and the Thundercats for revenge and to right what they consider wrongs we've done to their people. He also said that Ratar-O has the Sword of Plundarr and Prince Silvian the MoonSaber."

Snoelle gasped. "I knew something awful was amiss, and it had to do with that sword, the sword I failed to get away from them."

"So it was returned to the Lunatac rulers after all." Panthro frowned.

Lion-O nodded. "Apparently. From what Jaga said, Prince Silvian wants to get revenge on us for trying to take the MoonSaber all those years ago and take over New Thundera after we're defeated. And Ratar-O is after essentially the same thing—revenge for Jaga taking the Sword of Plundarr from Ratilla, and to replay the debt with my blood. We're going to have to fend them both off at once."

Just then, a panic-stricken Cheetara ran back into the room. "Chet's gone, Lion-O! He's not in the Lair and Pumari hasn't seen him. He's gone, taken by someone disguised as me, going by what Snarf saw."

"No one should've been able to get into the Lair without us knowing," the worried Tygra said. "We have heat sensors and alarms on all our doors and windows, and security cameras on the main entrances. No strangers came into the Lair today."

"I installed that security system myself," Panthro said, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand. "No living being should've been able to get in without whoever was in the control room knowing about it."

"Perhaps that's because it wasn't living, but _ever-living_," Pumyra suggested in a low tone.

Snarf let out a wail. "But Mumm-Ra's supposed to be gone for good!"

Lion-O withdrew the Sword of Omens from the claw shield. "We've thought that and been wrong before."

"Snaaaarf! Poor Chet! And the twins… oh, snarf snarf, he must have them too."

"Why didn't the Eye of Thundera warn us then?" Tygra wondered.

Hot tears filled Cheetara's eyes as she began to imagine the worst for her precious young cub. "I should've never let WilyKit go alone. We should've made sure we stayed in touch. And Chet… oh Jaga!"

The intercom to the room beeped and Panthro answered. "Pumari, is everything all right up there?" As Bengali and Pumyra's daughter was young but old enough to understand the basic functions of the monitor and communications system in the control room, they routinely posted her in there during council meetings, since she was too young to be included on Thundercat business even as a trainee.

"There's a really big ship landing outside. It's got a moon on it," the cub replied. "I know you don't like me to call when you're in meetings, but—"

"It's okay, Pumari. You did good. Thanks." Panthro let go of the button as he and everyone else in the room turned toward Lion-O awaiting his orders.

The lion's fingers tightened around the hilt of the Sword of Omens. "So Jaga was right. This is the battle he foretold." He let out a heavy sigh. "We must get our weapons and defend ourselves."

"What about Chet?" Cheetara asked. "Our cub needs us, and so do the twins. If Mumm-Ra is indeed back and he has them, the Lunatac and Mutant attacks could be a distraction from the real danger."

Lion-O grimaced as a cold and heavy blanket of guilt sat upon his heart and conscience. "The Lunatacs and Mutants are also a real danger, Cheetara, and they're in our front yard. If we don't confront them or we let them overpower us, all of Thundera could pay the price." He sighed, even though inside his very heart was breaking. "As the Lord of the Thundercats I'm sworn into my duty to defend all of Thundera. I can't break that oath, even if it means… even if it means I must wait to find my own son." _Forgive me, Chet, _Lion-O thought balefully, _and please be all right._

Tygra placed a sympathetic hand on Cheetara's shoulder. "He's right. We have no other choice. If these Lunatacs defeat us, Chet is as good as gone anyway. Lunatacs only take survivors for slaves or prisoners, and historically they assassinate enemy leaders and families."

Closing her teary eyes, Cheetara choked back a sob of emotion. "I understand." _I love you Chet, and I'm so sorry,_ she called out to him with her mind. _We will come for you as soon as we can, I promise!_ She did not sense anything in return, and she prayed that was because Chet did not comprehend how to do so at his young age and not because the worst had already happened to him. That was too much to bear, and Cheetara could only cope by forcing herself to focus on the imminent danger at hand and the upcoming fight.

"So this is it then; our confrontation with the holders of MoonSaber. This must've been why I was destined to return after all, so that I could finish what was started so many years ago," said Snoelle.

"Let's go, Thundercats," Lion-O said with authority, and raised the Sword of Omens. "Thundercats—HO!"

"Thundercats—HO!" the others echoed, and raised their hands to join their Lord in the cheer before retrieving weapons and greeting the enemy ship.

* * *

In the second of the two royal lunar crafts bound for New Thundera, Selene sat in her seat wringing her hands anxiously. "Oh Aunt Luna, how could I have let this happen?" she lamented. "If Silvian attacks the Thundercats, they'll kill him, and I'll lose my brother forever. And Frostor, he's been more of a father to me than my own was." Tears glistened in her eyes. "If Psiarik's dream is right, none of them will make it, and I'll never be able to live with myself knowing I let them all go to their doom."

"How could you've known for certain?" Luna replied. "Dreams are ambiguous and Psiarik's dream never mentioned Chillandra. Of course you and Silvian would listen to a spirit of someone entrusted to guard your heritage." She offered her a reassuring look. It was not a natural thing for Luna to be sympathetic, but she did not particularly enjoy seeing her relation so miserable, either. "I'm sure your brother can take care of himself, Frostor certainly seems sure of himself, and I can assure you that Chilla and TugMug won't let a Thundercat get the better of a Lunatac without a fight."

"Psiarik said that his dream showed it all, showed Silvian dead and _me _dead. By the Moons, what if he's right and none of us come back?"

RedEye looked up from the console where he was piloting the ship. "We've made it through a lot worse than a magic sword fight, your majesty."

"And it's only a theory that Psiarik's dream is a true vision anyway," Luna argued. "Like I said, Alluro never had seer powers. I know all psis have a degree of ability in all their disciplines, but their powers are still hereditary to an extent. Lurella wasn't a seer, was she?"

"No, she was an empath," Selene answered, still unconvinced. "He's seen things before occasionally though. His stepfather was one and I think he helped him hone it a bit." She frowned as another unsettling notion occurred to her. "Aunt Luna, you don't think Psiarik might disregard my order and come after us after all to try to interfere, do you? If we truly are doomed on New Thundera, I hate to think he would die with us too. The Moons need at least one of us, and I can't bear the thought of him dying too…"

The elder lunar woman frowned and considered the most tactful way to answer. In all honesty she imagined that the psi had ignored her orders and found a craft to pursue them as soon as Selene was out of sight. His level of emotional investment in it had been obvious to everyone in the room when their confrontation had taken place, and if he was anything like his father, heeding sensible orders was not his strong suit. However, with how upset Selene was, even someone like Luna knew how well that answer would be received, so she did not say that. For a moment Luna found herself in the unusual position of actually caring about someone else's feelings. Other than the rare instances where her loyal Amok made it clear that she had hurt him, the feelings of others did not matter to her.

"Aunt Luna?" Selene repeated, her eyes intent on her as she waited for an answer.

"Well… I think Psiarik will do what's best." Luna's answer was vague, not an outright lie, but she hoped it would be enough to mollify Selene.

Fortunately it seemed to do so. The lunar queen leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Oh, I hope so."

Over in the pilot's seat, RedEye gave a status update. "New Thundera's not too far now. We'll be there soon."

"Let's hope we're not too late," Selene said, and watched the glowing orb of New Thundera come closer into view.

* * *

Hanging in their chains in the heart of the black pyramid, WilyKit and WilyKat looked on helplessly as Chet, awake but fatigued from the Thundrainium, whimpered and cried. The poison metal had left his cries weak and pitiful, and their hearts broke as they were unable to give him any comfort but their reassurance that they loved him and they knew help would arrive before long. The more time passed, though, the more hollow those words felt, and that in turn made them even more angry and resentful. Neither wanted to believe that Mumm-Ra and Torlei could succeed in their evil plans, but the longer they waited and no help came, the more they began to fear that their faith was in vain.

Alone where he was bound, Chet curled into a ball and wished as hard as he could to be taken out of the scary place. _Don't want to die! Help me!_ His young soul cried out in anguish. Although he did not understand or even know it, his extreme desperation came out as a psychic cry of distress that projected into the ethers, able to be heard by anyone whose mind was open to such activity. His mother was too far from the black pyramid where she was at the Cat's Lair, but fortunately for Chet there was one individual, in a ship that approached New Thundera, that was close enough to hear it. That individual was Psiarik.

* * *

Psiarik had been watching the monitor on the ship along with Alluro and Vultureman when Chet's telepathic plea for help tore through his mind like a knife. The intensity of it, the hopelessness, the despair, and the abject terror in it were so overwhelming that the psi reeled from it as though he had taken a physical blow, and steadied himself on the edge of the console.

"What's the matter?" asked Alluro.

Closing his eyes and trying to focus after the assault on his senses, Psiarik slowly straightened. It was clear that someone needed help, and that someone was very young and desperately frightened, in fear for his life. Something within it also resonated that the child was connected to the conflict of the swords, although he did not know how he knew that or why. "We have to land. Now," he said with quiet but unchallengeable authority. "There's someone in danger down there and we have to help him."

"Silvian?" Vultureman questioned.

Psiarik shook his head. "No, it's a child. A very young child. Land now, right here."

Vultureman brought the landscape below up on the screen and frowned. "This is nowhere near the Cat's Lair. Silvian and the others aren't here. If we land now, caw, we'll be delayed from reaching them."

"I don't care!" Psiarik became more agitated by the moment as he continually felt Chet's anguish. It was not as overwhelming or loud, but now that he had connected with it, he could not un-feel it, ignore it, or tune it out. "Land now!"

Alluro frowned. "To help someone you don't know, likely some worthless Thunderian, when you were so worried about Selene before?"

Pushing past the two of them to get to the navigational controls himself, Psiarik remained insistent. "You don't understand! This is a child, a very little boy, barely old enough to talk. He's—he's afraid for his life, trapped by something terrible and evil. Probably the same evil putting all of this with Selene and Silvian and the swords in motion. I can't ignore it."

"The same evil," Alluro repeated and noticed a familiar-looking structure in the distance on the screen. Although he had never visited New Thundera's black pyramid, its design was unmistakable. "I think I know where you're talking about." He pointed to the monitor.

Vultureman let out a squawk of disgust. "Wonderful. Just wonderful."

The younger psi knew as soon as he saw the pyramid, even without knowing what it was, that it was where the child that called out was trapped. "There. He's there. We have to land."

Although he did not share his son's notion that saving some Thunderian child from Mumm-Ra's tomb was going to help matters any, Alluro chose not to press the issue. Psiarik had ordered their mission to New Thundera, after all, so it was his call to make. "All right," Alluro agreed. "If it's what you think best."

"Yes. Do it."

Vultureman was not as understanding. "Look, if we waste time chasing after some kid, we're not going to get to the others in time! Alluro may think it's in decent shape, but frankly, caw, this ship is a heap of junk as it is. Going on some wild goose chase in Mumm-Ra's pyramid isn't going to get us to wherever Silvian's confronting the Thundercats, which isn't here given I don't see his or Selene's ships anywhere!"

Fed up with being balked, Psiarik grabbed Vultureman by the scruffy feathers below his throat. Although he was lanky, the psi was still much taller and stronger than the scrawny avian. "I said to land the ship, Vultureman. That's an order!"

Unimpressed, the vulture wrested out of his grip and glowered back at him. "This isn't a royal vessel and you don't have the authority to bark out orders at me when we're not on your Moons."

Alluro narrowed his eyes and raised his psyche club. "Perhaps not, but you'll follow them when you're outvoted, _won't_ you? And need I remind you this is my ship?"

"All right, fine. Screw up your mission. We'll land," Vultureman conceded irritably. "Just don't complain to me when we finally get to Cat's Lair and find everyone dead."

"Just land the ship!" Psiarik snapped back at him.

Treating him as if he was a non-issue, Alluro pushed Vultureman aside and entered the settings on the console himself. "Landing sequence initiated."

* * *

When Ratar-O's ship entered New Thundera's airspace above New Cat's Lair, he eyed the monitor in anticipation, eager for the battle. "Soon this entire planet will be ours and the miserable Thunderians that've been a thorn in our side for so long will be our slaves."

"And that annoying Lion-O will be nothing but a sliced up bloody mess, yesss!" laughed Slythe.

Jackalman folded his arms across his chest and smirked, his earlier misgivings from Mumm-Ra's pyramid fading with the enthusiasm of his fellow Mutants. "Nyah ha ha, I can't wait to see those Thundercats finally get what's coming to them. Finally we can pay them back for locking us up on Way Out Back, interfering with us on Third Earth, and humiliating us over and over again. Now it's their turn to be humiliated."

"Hoo hoo, and what's this?" Monkian questioned, noticing a Lunatac ship already at the Cat's Lair. "Lunatacs?"

Ratar-O's lips curled back in a sneer. "It figures that those nosy moon-dwellers would get in my way in our moment of glory."

"It's got their royal insignia," noted Jackalman. "I wonder why they're here?" _I wonder if that's what Mumm-Ra meant when he said Vultureman would see plenty?_ Jackalman wondered silently.

"No matter," said Ratar-O. There was a dangerous gleam in his eyes as he clenched the hilt of the Sword of Plundarr, and the four serpent eyes on its handle flashed in tandem. "If the Lunatacs interfere, we'll slaughter them too, and if their royals are there, all the better. It'll make taking over the Moons once we're done on New Thundera that much easier. Mutant-kind is destined for greatness, and we'll rule it all!"

The rest of the Mutants echoed their leader's oath with cheers of victory, and the ship began its descent to the battleground that was forming at the foot of the Cat's Lair.

* * *

Prepared for battle with their weapons, the Thundercats with the exception of Snarf and Snarfer, who manned the control room, locked down the Lair, and kept Pumari safe, gathered outside their Lair to confront the Lunatacs. The main door of the Lunatac vessel opened, and Silvian stepped out, MoonSaber in hand. Frostor, Chilla, and TugMug emerged behind him, also ready to fight. In the distance and out of the notice of the preoccupied players on the battlefield, two shadowy figures lurked and watched in wicked delight as the two groups faced off.

Silvian was first to speak. "I have come to confront the Lord of the Thundercats," he called out in an authoritative tone. "Which of you is he?"

Drawing the Sword of Omens, Lion-O evaluated the Lunatac that challenged him. The Lunatac prince was young, barely out of adolescence, was far shorter than he, and slight in stature. That did not seem to affect his confidence, however, and Lion-O also noticed that he carried the sword Jaga had warned him about—the MoonSaber. That alone meant he would be a force to be reckoned with. Stepping forward bravely, Lion-O answered his call. "I am Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats. Who are you and why have you come to challenge me, Lunatac?"

Striding forward arrogantly, Silvian replied, "I am Prince Silvian, royal heir to the throne of the united kingdom of the Moons of Plundarr. I'm here to stop you from taking that which is rightfully ours, Thundercat," he said in reference to the MoonSaber that "Chillandra" had told him they intended to steal.

Lion-O, however, leapt to an altogether different conclusion from his statement in light of what "Jaga" had told him. Although he had been warned, Lion-O was still astonished to hear the Lunatac admit that conquest of Thundera was his goal, and that his justification was a belief that New Thundera was rightfully his. "Rightfully yours?" Lion-O exclaimed. "You Lunatacs don't know the first thing about what's rightfully yours! 'Right' and 'wrong' are words that have little meaning to raiders like yourselves."

"Is that what your self-righteous code tells you?" Frostor snarled back at them. "The same code you use to justify any action you see fit with oh-so-honorable words to keep your consciences clear?"

"How dare you speak to us like that?" Cheetara shouted back at him. "Who do you think you are?"

Taking a stride forward and ready to use the weapon attached to his arm, a channeling device for the fiery energy ice Lunatacs could emit from their hands that focused it to be more damaging, Frostor answered, "I'm Frostor, Governor General of the Moons of Plundarr and loyal commander to Prince Silvian and Queen Selene. I enforce their laws and edicts, including stopping you presumptuous felines from screwing with us."

"You're the one that's presumptuous, thinking you can come to our planet and do whatever the hell you please!" a furious Panthro growled back at them, refusing to listen to any more from them. "Defend yourself, Lunatac!" The panther leapt forward, swinging his nunchuks at Frostor.

As soon as she saw him move, Chilla also leapt up and spat a blast of icy air at Panthro, knocking him off balance and icing his left arm and leg. "Freeze, Thundercat," she snarled, and then drew breath to ice him again. She never got a chance, however, for Snoelle rushed forward in Panthro's defense as soon as she saw Chilla. In an agile leap that rivaled one of Pumyra's, she was on top of the icewalker before Chilla knew what hit her, and as soon as they hit the ground Snoelle curled her fingers around the ice woman's throat.

The violent brawl stirred the rest of them into action. With a yell Silvian swung the MoonSaber, and the mystical blade extended to its elongated battle form in a similar manner to the way the Sword of Omens did when Lion-O summoned its powers. He charged at Lion-O, who countered his blow with the already charged Sword of Omens. Frostor aimed and fired at Tygra, who dodged and cracked his bolo whip in the ice general's direction in an attempt to disarm him. Cheetara vaulted over TugMug, firing his gravity carbine at her and barreling toward her with speed too close to her own for her liking. Pumyra meanwhile knelt by the iced Panthro and used a pellet to break the numbing encasement off of him.

"You miserable ice witch!" Snoelle raged, tightening her fingers around Chilla's throat. "All these years and you're still alive, not even aged? What deal did you make with the spirits of darkness for such a gift? Who did you sell your soul to, Mistress of the Cold?"

Chilla struggled and got her knee on the snow leopard's abdomen, enabling her to deliver a blow that loosened her grip enough for her to roll away. "Let go of me, feline!" she gasped hoarsely.

"I will avenge myself for what you did to me, Chillandra, for stealing my life and the price my people paid when I didn't return!" Snoelle shook with anger as she rose to her feet once more. She drew the weapon she carried for the battle, a spear that extended in a manner similar to Cheetara's staff, from a simple leather bandolier that holstered it on her back, and struck at Chilla with it.

The ice woman was back on her knees when the spear hit the ground beside her, and back on her feet a second later. Given the unpleasant conversation she had with the others on the way to New Thundera, being mistaken for Chillandra by a Thundercat only fueled her temper to new heights. "You stupid inbred cat! I've never seen you before in my life. I'm not Chillandra! If you Thundercats had any brains at all you'd know she disappeared some fifty years ago!"

Pausing, Snoelle eyed the ice woman as she spoke her protest, and she realized that despite their similarity in appearance, she was not her former nemesis. The familiarity she sensed in her existed for a different reason. "No, not Chillandra," Snoelle said as she made the connection. "But her kin. Her blood is in yours, and you mean to see her work finished if you've come here with your prince. But I won't let you."

"As if I need your permission for anything, Thundercat!" Chilla hissed, and spat a snowy breath at her. Snoelle roared in fury as the frost grazed her hair, but countered with another thrust of her spear, while the others continued to fight all around them.

From their unobtrusive vantage point nearby, Mumm-Ra, in his powerful ever-living form, and his dark bride Torlei exchanged pleased looks. "Fools," Mumm-Ra chortled. "They seal their own doom and have no idea that they're doing it."

"And soon it'll get better," Torlei said, pointing to the Mutant ship as it landed just beyond the Lunatacs' vessel. "Here come Ratar-O and his friends to liven things up."

The distraction of the new ship caught everyone off guard for a moment. The doors to the Mutant ship opened and Ratar-O, Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian emerged. As he regarded his enemies the Thundercats already engaged in a battle with Lunatacs that he loathed just as much, he raised the Sword of Plundarr, its jagged blades already extended and aglow, and approached them. "So _this _is my competition?" the rat Mutant mocked with a hearty laugh that shook his belly. "A Thundercat who spends more time on politics than battle on his 'peaceful' world, and a Lunatac Prince that's no more than a boy, and a scrawny one at that?"

His eyes ablaze with outrage at the insult, Silvian turned from Lion-O to Ratar-O. "I'll give you 'scrawny,' Mutant!" He charged at the rat with the MoonSaber drawn, but Ratar-O avoided the swipe and swung his own weapon back at him. Silvian ducked in time, and while the Lunatac got his bearings, Ratar-O took the opportunity to fire a blast of energy from the Sword of Plundarr at Lion-O, who leapt back and deflected the beam with the claw shield.

"This is the moment, Mumm-Ra," Torlei said, her eyes glowing bright red with excitement. "The three swords have met against one another in battle. Begin the Incantation of Destruction."

"It would be my pleasure, my dear." Mumm-Ra brought his hands together in a formation to channel power from beyond and began to chant in an ancient tongue, a language once common to all three worlds and their ancient gods and spirits.

High above them all, the sky darkened and lightning began to flash. The destruction was beginning.


	8. The Battle - Part Two

Outside New Thundera's black pyramid, Alluro eyed the dark structure with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. "It's almost an exact duplicate of what it was on Third Earth, aside from not being in a desert of sinking sands." He shook his head. "I knew the old bag of bones was obsessive, but relocating to the Thundercats' planet just to be rid of them is extreme even for him."

"Caw, I think the Ancient Spirits of Evil actually banished him here, or something along those lines, for failing to the Thundercats too many times."

Alluro snorted derisively at the Mutant's statement. "I always thought he was a loser." It was then that he noticed two vehicles parked nearby, ones he recognized as Thundercat design. "Speaking of Thundercats, isn't that odd that those would be here and empty?" he said, pointing to them.

Psiarik's brow furrowed. "If Thundercats are here, then why aren't they helping the child that I sensed?" He walked faster toward the pyramid, which did not have an entrance apparent. "We have to find a way in."

Walking toward the western side, Alluro said, "Vultureman and I have both been in this place more times than either of us care to think about. I assume it's in the same spot it was on Third Earth?"

Vultureman nodded. "Yes. Mumm-Ra didn't change anything structurally." He pointed to the entrance, which was indeed where Alluro would have expected it to be relative to the place it had been located on Third Earth's pyramid. Alluro entered first, with Psiarik close at his heels, while Vultureman lagged behind the two psis. It did not take them long to reach the main chamber, and given the lack of traps or nasty surprises awaiting them, it seemed that for holding someone captive, Mumm-Ra had gotten lax about security in his time on New Thundera. Not that Alluro, Vultureman, or even Psiarik was complaining about that.

When they stepped into the sarcophagus chamber, Psiarik immediately rushed to where he sensed the boy in distress was, while WilyKat called out to whomever it was that had come in, realizing that it did not seem to be Mumm-Ra or Torlei. "Help!" he shouted. "Whoever you are, please, get us out of here!"

Psiarik glanced over, but first picked up Chet and examined the shackle around his waist, looking for a release. _Thundrainium? Sick bastard,_ Psiarik thought. Though he had no particular love for Thunderians, torturing an innocent child of any race was despicable as far as he was concerned.

When WilyKit and WilyKat noticed that the visitor was a Lunatac they grew defensive out of instinct. "Hey! Leave him alone! Don't hurt him!" yelled WilyKit.

Alluro and Vultureman remained where they stood and watched, their features obscured from the Thundercat twins' sight by the shadows of the pyramid. Psiarik meanwhile shot them an annoyed look, only then noticing their Thundercat insignias. "I'm helping him, you idiot. He asked for my help." He found the catch on Chet's chain and released it, freeing the trembling cub from it. Chet clung to Psiarik both out of exhaustion and desperation, and the Lunatac held him securely against him with his left arm.

"He asked for your help?" WilyKat asked. "How?"

"Telepathically," Psiarik answered. "I could hear him all the way on my ship, and Thunderian or not, I'm not going to stand by while someone tortures a kid like him. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get going. I have my wife to save, Thundercat."

"Wait, don't leave us!" WilyKit yelled. "If you helped him, help us too!"

Psiarik raised a brow. "Save a Thundercat? When it's your kind that's started this whole mess by plotting to steal our sword? Why should I?"

WilyKat made an exasperated noise. "Maybe because it's the right thing to do? I know a Lunatac wouldn't know that if it bit them on the ass most of the time, but if you want to help Chet you can't be _all _bad."

Laughing, Alluro and stepped out of the shadows with Vultureman. "You Thundercats never change, do you? Even grown up, you two are still annoying."

"Alluro!" a shocked WilyKit exclaimed.

"And Vultureman?" WilyKat said with equal surprise. "Wow, what rock did you two crawl out from under?"

"Somehow I don't think this is what Mumm-Ra meant when he said Vultureman would 'see plenty,' do you?" WilyKit then said to her brother.

Psiarik turned to Alluro. "Dad? You know these Thundercats?"

"Dad?" both WilyKit and WilyKat said in stunned unison.

Casting a sidelong glance at her brother, WilyKit then added, "Wow, now there's someone that shouldn't reproduce."

"Comments like that aren't going to help your case for being freed, you know," Psiarik said sarcastically to the twins before looking back to his father. "Who are they?"

"I knew them back on Third Earth. They were children then. Allegedly, they've grown up, but I don't see evidence of that," Alluro sneered at them.

Vultureman, meanwhile, let out a caw of outrage. "Hold on, Psiarik! You aren't seriously considering helping those Thundercats, are you?"

WilyKat eyed the vulture with a grave look in his tired eyes. "You ought to, unless you don't want help keeping Mumm-Ra and Torlei from destroying our worlds and enslaving anyone who manages to survive after they invoke the Incantation of Destruction."

"Torlei?" Alluro repeated, a sick feeling in his gut at the mention of his sister's name. "She survived all these years, and she's with Mumm-Ra again?"

"Yeah. We didn't see it coming either," said WilyKit.

Eyes narrowed distrustfully at them, Vultureman said, "Even so, we don't need your help to deal with Mumm-Ra. We can stop this ourselves."

"Are you so sure of that? And if you're wrong, what then? Do you really think that once they finish here that they won't go to Plundarr or its Moons? The spell will destroy all the worlds, they're convinced of it," WilyKit told them.

Nodding along with his sister, WilyKat added, "They sure gloated about it enough after they captured us. They think nothing can stop them, and they have them all fooled into thinking they're doing the right thing."

Chet whimpered in Psiarik's arms, and he looked down at the cub for a moment before returning his attention to the Thundercats. He could sense that the boy wanted them freed, but he still had doubts. "What do you mean, Thundercat, that they have them fooled?"

"And when did the Mutants get involved? Don't they have to be here?" Alluro pressed.

"They will be," WilyKat told them somberly. "Mumm-Ra disguised himself to trick all three sides into fighting one another. He just called the Mutants here after appearing to Ratar-O pretending to be an ancestor of his saying it was his destiny to take the Sword of Plundarr and fight Lion-O to get revenge for losing it to Jaga all those years ago. Then he turned around and went to Lion-O pretending to be Jaga to warn that the Mutants and Lunatacs were coming and that he had to defend himself with the Sword of Omens."

"And the Lunatacs are coming because he appeared to their prince pretending to be the sorceress that hid the MoonSaber, saying that Lion-O was after it again."

Psiarik's blood ran cold at the twins' words. "That wasn't Chillandra that Silvian saw… it was Mumm-Ra." One of the final pieces of the puzzle clicked into place, and he realized how they had all played into the evil ever-livings' destructive scheme. "So you were right, Vultureman, he was one of the cloaked figures in my dream."

"And the other must've been my sister," Alluro said darkly, while Vultureman folded his arms, for once not smug in the notion that he had been right.

WilyKit eyed the two Lunatacs and the Mutant with pleading eyes. "Please, just this once, let's put our differences aside and work with each other. We're _all _going to lose if we don't stop them."

Alluro gestured indifferently, clearly not pleased at the notion of helping the two Thundercats, but also not willing to stop Psiarik if that was what he decided. "It's your call if you want to trust them."

"You not trusting us. There's irony," WilyKat muttered.

Psiarik sighed. There was only one decision he could make, and it was cemented when the cub in his arms pointed to the twins. "Kit, Kat." He let out a weary, resigned sigh.

"Free them."

Vultureman's palm connected with his forehead. "I don't believe this."

Alluro grabbed the avian's other wrist and dragged him over to where the twins were suspended in their Thundrainium chains so that they could free them given that Psiarik still had his hands full with Chet. "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," the elder psi remarked as he triggered the release mechanism on WilyKit's shackles.

The female twin fell to the floor in an ungainly heap, but stood woozily as the effects of the Thundrainium were still strong. "No offense Alluro, but your sister's a bitch," she said, rubbing her fur and skin where the telekinetic energy had burned her before being chained up.

"I won't argue that," he replied. "Mumm-Ra made her into a monster." As she took a step forward, the dizziness from the Thundrainium overcame her and she stumbled. She would have fallen, but Alluro roughly caught her arm and then shoved her toward Psiarik and Chet. "Fool feline, don't stay near the Thundrainium if you're to be of any help at all."

"Thanks," she said, and looked back at him. "And your sister… for what it's worth, I'm sorry. I can't imagine—"

Alluro's patience wore through and he scowled back at her. "Spare me your pity, Thundercat. I don't need or want it."

"Hey, she was just trying to be nice!" WilyKat said, stumbling toward them after Vultureman released him from his chains.

"Come on," Psiarik said, beckoning to the newly freed Thundercats. "We saw your vehicles outside, but you don't look like you're in any condition to pilot them, and we don't have time to waste until the Thundrainium wears off. You can come with us on our ship."

"Playing 'taxi' for Thundercats and babysitting their kids?" Vultureman shook his head. "Ridiculous!"

WilyKat gave the vulture a tired and irritable look. "We're not any more thrilled with the prospect of it than you are, so let's just get on with it and stop Mumm-Ra, all right?"

"For once, I agree with a Thundercat," Alluro mused sardonically. "Who would've imagined?"

"Agreeing with a Thundercat; maybe this really is the end of the world," said Vultureman. The unlikely group of allies made their way out of the pyramid and boarded Alluro's ship, heading towards Cat's Lair as fast as they could.

* * *

The ship holding Luna, Amok, Selene, and RedEye approached Cat's Lair where the battle had already begun. "There they are," RedEye confirmed. "That's Silvian's ship and… is that a Mutant craft over there?" He frowned. "What are those miserable creatures doing here?"

Selene leaned closer to the monitor. "Mutants? Psiarik's dream had a rat Mutant…" A cold shiver ran down her spine. "This can't be good."

Amok patted Selene on the head in an attempt to be reassuring while Luna tapped her riding crop against the palm of her hand. "No Mutant is a threat to Luna, or any other worthy Lunatac, and that includes that idiot Ratar-O, sword or no sword."

Casting her glance out the window, Selene said anxiously, "Can you tell if Silvian's all right?"

"I'm bringing up a visual now," RedEye replied, and a moment later a close-up of the ground appeared on the screen. They saw their fellow Lunatacs already engaged in battle, but to Selene's relief, her brother was alive and holding his own.

"We have to land now," she urged RedEye. "I hope we can stop this madness in time."

"Understood," answered the darkling, and their ship joined the others in front of the Cat's Lair.

* * *

In the field below, the battle raged on. Those involved were too caught up in combat to notice how ominously the skies darkened, the eerie howl upon the wind, or the unnatural color and frequency of the lightning in the stormy clouds above, but they were delightful to behold to the two dark souls that had brought it all about.

"How long until the spell is complete?" Torlei asked Mumm-Ra, who had stopped chanting.

"The proper moment has not come for the final verse yet. I cannot recite it until all three swords meet in a single physical clash against one another all at once. It has not yet happened."

Torlei frowned. "And what if it doesn't?"

"It will," the other ever-living insisted. "Be patient."

The sound of another spacecraft, one that was not expected, caught Torlei's attention. "Look! Another ship; a Lunatac ship!"

Mumm-Ra grinned with dark amusement. "Ah, I knew they would be here sooner or later. Your old friend Luna is on that ship, with more of her friends, including the prince's sister Queen Selene and your old associates Amok and RedEye."

The female ever-living's red eyes blazed with unspent rage. "So Luna is here. I'll kill _her _myself."

As Torlei went to move, Mumm-Ra grabbed her arm with the strength of power older than hers. "Calm yourself, woman," he growled in a tone that would not be challenged. "We'll have our vengeance when our spell completes and its dark power destroys them all. If Luna survives that, then you may go and finish her."

"That's too impersonal," Torlei hissed. "She killed me, and I want her to die by my hand, not as a spell consequence. I want to witness it, feel it, slow and painful, and her to know how much I relish it."

Mumm-Ra's grip tightened. "Do not tip our hand too early with your petty vendettas! Be satisfied that she will die and let the Incantation of Destruction work its magic."

Torlei scowled, but conceded. "Fine. I'll leave her be… for now."

* * *

Too caught up in the battle to notice the approach of another ship, Ratar-O swung the Sword of Plundarr savagely at Lion-O. "This is for Ratilla and the dishonor done Plundarr by your kind, Thundercat! Our honor is restored with your blood! Now is the time for the Mutants' hour of glory where Thundera will be ours!"

"Your evil will never dominate our world, Ratar-O, not as long as I live!" Lion-O countered, blocking the jagged blade of Ratar-O's sword with the Sword of Omens.

"After your treacherous plot against me and my people, Thundercat, you won't live long!" Silvian yelled. "I'll see to that!" The Lunatac prince then swung the MoonSaber at Lion-O as well.

The lion was able to duck and leap back out of the way, avoiding Silvian's attack by inches, and Ratar-O laughed. "A shame you missed, Lunatac. Then I'd only have to dispatch of you and I know _you _won't be much of a challenge."

The derisive mockery only strengthened Silvian's resolve to put the Mutant in his place. Who was that oversized garbage can dweller to not take him, the prince of the Moons of Plundarr, seriously, he thought furiously. "That insult will be your last, Mutant!" Silvian said. He lunged forward at him with the MoonSaber aimed right at the broad center of his belly, just as Selene and those who had accompanied her emerged from their ship to witness the battle on the ground. As the Lunar queen would realize a moment later, she was too late. Lion-O, reorienting to swing in his enemies' direction with a stunning blast of energy from the Sword of Omens, had not factored in Silvian's sudden and agile charge at Ratar-O, and as he swung his sword in an arc to discharge the blast, it did not complete, and instead buried itself deeply into the Lunatac prince's midsection, sizzling with unspent energy. It was a fatal blow.

Ratar-O leapt aside, while Silvian let out a shout of pain, doubling over as Lion-O withdrew his sword, staring at what he had just done in horror. Silvian clutched at his side in vain and crumpled to his knees, hunched over as his maroon blood stained the dirt. "By Jaga," Lion-O whispered as he looked at the bloodied Sword of Omens, "what have I done?" Thundercats were not killers and he did not want to see either of his enemies dead, only off of his world and not doing harm. "No, I didn't want this… only to defend myself."

"Silvian!" When Selene saw her brother fall, she broke into a run, unmindful of the dangers of running into a mob of armed strangers, far ahead of Luna, Amok, and RedEye and to the spot where Silvian lay on the ground. She scooped him into her arms while Ratar-O and the Mutants sneered from above and Lion-O continued to look on in horror. "No! Oh no, no, no!" she cried, tears spilling from her eyes and freely down her cheeks. "Psiarik warned us, but we were too late!"

Silvian was still aware enough to take comfort in his sister's presence in his final moments, and he met her eyes with a glazed look already in his own. "Avenge me, Selene. Don't let them take what's ours." His words became difficult and choked, and he went limp in her arms. "Don't let me die for nothing."

Selene nodded numbly and absently wiped tears that blurred her vision from her face, smearing a trail of her brother's blood on her cheek, but she did not notice or care. She only cared that she was losing her only brother, her companion since he had been born, the closest and only blood relative she had for most of her life, and that he had just been taken from her by the leader of the Thundercats. Selene could now understand why Luna hated them so much as a surge of rage and loss bubbled inside her. "Don't worry, Silvian," she said with fierce determination, and kissed the top of his head, burying her face for a moment in his white hair. "They'll pay for this," she vowed. "I love you and I'll make them all pay for taking you from us."

"I—I love you too sis..." Silvian's voice trailed off as the last breath of life left his body. Luna, Amok, and RedEye joined Selene's side, and Luna lowered her head to hide the tear or two that formed in her cynical eyes, shaken and angry at the loss of her newly found relation.

Lion-O remained in shock, and he faced Selene with a terribly heavy conscience. The fighting around them had stopped for the moment with Ratar-O and the Mutants surveying the scene with amusement. No longer fighting the other Lunatacs, who were as stunned at the turn of events as they were, the other Thundercats stood with Lion-O on their guard while Frostor, Chilla, and TugMug gathered together.

Cheetara put a hand on Lion-O's shoulder. "You mustn't blame yourself, Lion-O. You were defending yourself and New Thundera."

Tygra nodded alongside her. "What happened to him was of his own doing when he chose to invade."

"Worthless liars and hypocrites!" spat Chilla.

Luna looked at the Thundercats hatefully, enraged by their justifications. "You murdered him, Thundercat! No matter what spin you want to put on it with your code, that's the truth!"

"Defending New Thundera?" Frostor said, standing protectively over Selene and her fallen brother. "From what? From someone trying to stop you before you came to steal the MoonSaber from us? Again?" He glared that time, and pointedly, at Snoelle.

"Jaga warned us before you attacked that you were here to defeat us and enslave New Thundera," Panthro shouted back to them, tugging at his nunchuks. "You're the ones making justifications rather than facing facts."

Selene heard the angry words flying back and forth around her, but was unable to speak or take her eyes off of her brother. More tears clouded her eyes until Silvian's still form was no more than a blur, and she held him, sobbing, until Amok gently parted them and lifted her back to her feet.

* * *

From where they watched, Torlei turned to Mumm-Ra in a rage. "What now? The swords never met, and now the prince is dead! Without him using the MoonSaber against Lion-O and Ratar-O, we cannot finish the incantation! We've lost!"

"No," the ancient sorcerer replied. "There is still one other that can wield the Lunatacs' mystical sword." He gestured to Selene.

Torlei sneered at the sight of the frail lunar queen as she knelt heavily on Amok, overcome with grief. "That pitiful woman will fight Lion-O and Ratar-O? You must be kidding. She looks like she could barely lift that sword."

"Do not underestimate her, Torlei. Anyone with the bloodline to command a weapon with these powers is a force to be reckoned with. And don't forget, she's of the same blood as Luna. Appearances can be deceiving. Losing her brother is more than enough to push that Lunatac into a fight with her brother's killers. She will take his place in the battle, and when she does, we'll complete the Incantation of Destruction."

"You'd better be right, Mumm-Ra," Torlei groused.

Mumm-Ra only responded with a dark cackle and returned his attention to the scene of the battle.

* * *

Standing beside Luna and Amok, Selene blinked the tears from her eyes and stared down at the inert MoonSaber in Silvian's hand. _Avenge me, sister, _his parting words echoed through her mind.

"Yes," she said aloud, quietly but with firm determination. "I _will_ avenge you." She then bent down and wrapped her fingers around the MoonSaber's handle. The instant she touched it, and it connected with her spirit and emotion, it surged back to life aglow just as it had been in Silvian's hand. Straightening, she turned and faced the two responsible for her brother's death.

Luna knew right away what she intended, and she lauded her for it. "Annihilate them, Selene. They've more than earned it." Luna had become fond of Silvian in the short time she had known him, and the fact that Lion-O had just taken him from her only made her hate the Lord of the Thundercats more.

Frostor, on the other hand, had an ominous feeling as soon as he saw Selene lift the MoonSaber. _Selene fighting a red-haired Thundercat and a rat Mutant on New Thundera while her brother lays dead nearby… by the gods, it _is _Psiarik's dream. _ "Selene, wait!" The ice general shouted to get her attention, but if she heard it, she did not acknowledge it and continued forward, an expression of hatred on her normally gentle features. The wind around them picked up and another crack of lightning flashed above them all.

"You murdering bastard!" Selene shouted furiously. "Face me and pay for what you did to my brother!"

As the lightning flashed, Lion-O saw a disconcerting resemblance in Selene's features to the cruel ones of Luna that he remembered well from years past. "I never meant to kill him," Lion-O told the lunar queen earnestly. "I swear upon the Code of Thundera that I never intended to see him or Ratar-O dead."

"More the fool you are for it, for I _do_ intend to kill you," Ratar-O interjected with a sneer, twirling the blades of the Sword of Plundarr impatiently. Although the diversion of the Lunatac prince's death had been amusing, he had business to finish.

"I was trying to stun them," Lion-O went on to Selene, ignoring Ratar-O's goading words. "It was an accident. I'm deeply sorry for what happened!" Although Lion-O doubted that Silvian's sister would ever forgive him, and taking a life was something he would have trouble reconciling to himself, he felt that she had to know that he had not _meant _to kill him.

Selene was not swayed, and her anger burned hotter at what she felt were very patronizing words. "Sorry?" she shrieked. "You slaughter my brother and then have the gall to tell me that you're _sorry_? He came to protect what belongs to him and all our people and you murdered him for it! Sorry indeed! I'll give you something to be sorry for, Thundercat!" She pointed the MoonSaber at him, and as if it read her mind, a silver-blue blast of energy shot from the tip of its blade at the lion.

Caught by surprise, Lion-O growled and deflected the beam with his claw shield.

Ratar-O took that as his cue to finish what he had come to New Thundera for. "Amusing," he said, eyeing the Thundercat and the Lunatac. "First the boy and now this useless and weak woman? Is this the best the Lunatacs have to offer? Be smart, and go back home to your little palace where females belong, out of the way having the babies of real warriors. If you leave now, perhaps I'll let you live as a trophy when I do the Moons a favor and take them over for you after I finish with Lion-O."

"You chauvinistic flea-ridden piece of vermin, I'll show you the place of a woman—putting so-called men like you in their place. Defend yourself!" She raised the MoonSaber once more and shot a beam in Ratar-O's direction, but her aim was off and it only hit his arm. It was enough, however, to sear through his sleeve and give him a stinging flesh wound.

"All right then, girl, if you want to play, so be it!" Ratar-O in turn spun the Sword of Plundarr's blades at Selene, sending waves of energy at her that she held up the MoonSaber to block, but still pushed her back a step with the impact. She ducked and swung the blade low, sending a slash and wave of energy in Lion-O's direction.

The scuffle amongst their leaders sent the signal to the others to join in, and Slythe charged at Cheetara, who vaulted over him with her staff and sought to dizzy him and tire him out in return. Frostor backed up Selene by firing at Tygra, who cracked his whip in Selene's direction in an attempt to disarm her. Chilla took the opportunity to hiss a freezing blast of ice at Snoelle, while Panthro fended off an advancing TugMug and RedEye. Pumyra leapt back and forth scattering explosive pellets with her lariat between Luna and Amok, advancing on one side, and Jackalman and Monkian, attempting to corner her on the other. When the opportunity arose, they also took swipes at one another, Lunatac against Mutant.

In the distance both Mumm-Ra and Torlei watched, the latter now satisfied that her partner had been right after all. They eagerly watched the trio of leaders fight and waited for the pivotal moment that all three swords would clash…

* * *

After what felt to them like an excruciatingly long ride, the ship carrying the Thundercat twins, Alluro, Vultureman, Psiarik, and Chet finally arrived at Cat's Lair. When they got there, they saw the number of ships present and something happening on the field between ships and the Lair, and they exchanged alarmed looks.

Vultureman brought a closer image of the scuffle below onto the screen, where they could see a distant shot of a number of individuals engaged in a fierce fight. "By Jaga!" WilyKit gasped when she saw the angry chaos. "I haven't seen something like this since—"

"—since we were children," an equally worried WilyKat finished.

The ship touched down and Alluro powered down the engines. "We've landed."

Psiarik was already to the hatch, impatiently pushing the button to open it. "Let's get out there and hope we're not too late."

"Wait! What about Chet?" WilyKat looked over at the cub, who was securely fastened in the seat Luna used to ride in when it belonged to the six Lunatacs of Plundarr. It was the best fit, and when they had put him there, Alluro had the brief and nasty thought that it must be suited for two-year-olds.

WilyKit shook her head. "We can't bring him out there. It's no place for a child, and being Lion-O's son, he'd be even more of a target."

Alluro's features twisted into a look of incredulous disgust. "This is Lion-O's son we're babysitting? This just gets more insane as it goes," he muttered with a shake of his head.

"Whose did you think he was?" WilyKit said, but Psiarik cut off the squabble.

"It's not important whose kid he is right now," Psiarik said. "Just leave him in here, it's the safest place, especially if no one out there knows he's here. We can return him to his parents when all of this is over, if we're not already too late."

"Leave him in a Lunatac ship?" a dubious WilyKat said, his eyes falling on Alluro and Vultureman.

"Fine then, take him onto the battlefield instead if you wish, Thundercat. It's clear he has more sense than you. Perhaps he'll be more useful, too," Alluro said as he lifted his psyche club and joined Psiarik at the door.

WilyKat glared back at him while Psiarik added, "We took a chance and trusted you two, so you ought to get over yourselves and trust _us_ in return."

"All right." WilyKit patted Chet on the head. "Sorry, but it's not easy knowing what these two were like. We don't really know you, but—"

"Look, I give you my word as the king of Moons of Plundarr that none of us will harm that boy or keep you from taking him home!" Psiarik said in exasperation, while WilyKit and WilyKat exchanged surprised looks as they joined the others at the door.

"You're the Lunatac king?" WilyKat said. "I had no idea. I mean, I thought the royalty was all Luna's race. No offense."

"The bloodline is lunar," Psiarik clarified as they disembarked. "Queen Selene is my wife, and Prince Silvian is my brother-in-law. That's why we're here, Thundercat."

"You knew he was in trouble? But back at the pyramid you seemed surprised that Mumm-Ra tricked him," said a puzzled WilyKit.

"Only surprised that the Chillandra Silvian saw was really Mumm-Ra. That someone was invoking the Incantation of Destruction we already figured out, and hopefully we're not already too late."

WilyKat sighed. "Gods, I hope not." He looked over his shoulder and offered Chet a wan smile of reassurance. "Sit tight, Chet. We'll be back for you as soon as we can." The two Thundercats and two Lunatacs then broke into a run toward the battlefield while Vultureman closed up the ship and followed behind them. The group of them hollered as they approached, screaming for everyone to stop, but their shouts were largely drowned out by the battle and unnatural thunder in the skies above. Distracted as they were in their fight, neither Lion-O, Selene, nor Ratar-O even noticed their arrival.

As they drew closer, Psiarik was overwhelmed with a sickening sense of déjà vu. The worst part of his nightmare had come to life. He was on New Thundera, surrounded by stormy skies and howling wind. Selene was engaged in a swordfight with the MoonSaber against a red-haired Thundercat and a rat Mutant, and her face was stained with tears—and blood. He could now see Silvian's still body not far from where Selene faced them in her rage, and he fought back a wave of nauseous guilt. _I was too late._ He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he reopened them he saw another ominous image from his dream, the two cloaked figures in the distance. _But Selene's still alive, so it's not over yet._ _Even if the dream said I can't do anything, I have to try. _He took a deep breath and shouted with all of his might, drawing on his full emotion and hoping it would throw whatever persuasive psi abilities he had into it. "Selene!"

For the briefest moment, the lunar queen glanced in their direction, but it was clear that she had not heard him when she did not even pause. Instead she returned a vicious swing of the MoonSaber in Ratar-O's direction, countering a strike he had just taken at her.

* * *

The one individual that did take notice of the newest arrivals on the scene was the least pleased of all to see them, especially one in particular. _So my worthless brother turns up after all! _Torlei glared at him and his companions with unbridled hatred. "He will _not _stand in my way a third time," she hissed poisonously, and turned to Mumm-Ra. "You don't need me with you to recite the final verse of the incantation, so I'll go deal with these interlopers personally and see to it that they don't interfere."

Mumm-Ra turned his gaze in their direction, but unlike earlier, he did not stop her. "Very well. I will perform the ritual while you stop them from trying to stop us."

"And it will be my pleasure, darling!" she replied, already levitating backwards in anticipation of giving them a most unwelcome greeting.

* * *

Although neither Selene, Lion-O, nor Ratar-O seemed to hear Psiarik's call to his wife, both Snoelle and Chilla did, and the fighting Thundercat and Lunatac each looked over when it happened. Snoelle only noticed the Lunatac that had shouted, however, and not specifically those with him. "More Lunatacs? Reinforcements?" she snarled accusingly. "And you say you weren't here to take over Thundera."

"Then I suppose the Thundercats at their side were helping them?" Chilla retorted, firing a heat blast at Snoelle's feet. She had noticed that Psiarik, Alluro, and Vultureman had Thundercat company immediately.

The snow leopard swung her spear in a defensive move and leapt back to avoid the searing energy. "You'll have to do better than that to best me, ice witch," she said, and then realized that Chilla was right. WilyKit and a male she presumed must be her missing brother ran toward them along with the two Lunatacs and a vulture Mutant. "They've been found!" Snoelle was both astonished and relieved. "Rescued?"

"I'll have to have a word with them about that," Chilla said, wondering what possessed Alluro and Vultureman to bring more Thundercats along with them. She then took Snoelle's momentary distraction as an opportunity to spit a heavy breath of ice at the snow leopard. She turned a moment too late as a cold crust of ice struck and froze her side, making her yelp.

Her cry caught Tygra's attention from where he tangled with Frostor nearby. The tiger spun and cracked his whip against the ice pack on Snoelle's side, shattering it and allowing her to move, while Frostor in turn spat an icy breath at him. Tygra ducked it and then as Frostor reoriented, he leapt up and forward in an unexpected move, and tackled the ice general. From where he lay on the ground, he saw Psiarik and the others approaching. "What the—?" he muttered and then groaned as he realized that the final pieces of the psi's dream were falling into place. "He came even in spite of the prophecy?" _Or because of it and his dream, _his thoughts finished for him in realization.

Tygra narrowed his eyes at the Lunatac beneath him. "What are you talking about? What prophecy?"

"The legend of the swords!" Frostor growled impatiently, and exhaled a frozen mist of air in the tiger's face that made him fall back gasping as the shock of the cold air hit his lungs and stung his eyes. The ice general rose to his feet, but he did not engage Tygra further and instead shot his fire beam gauntlet at the ground between Chilla and Snoelle. "We have to stop this, now, before the prophecy of the swords fulfills itself!"

Snoelle eyed him warily while Tygra recovered and joined her side. "The legend of the swords," she repeated.

Breathing easier now, Tygra added with a worried look, "The Incantation of Destruction?"

Frostor nodded. "You Thundercats must have a translation of it too: 'When the past becomes the present—'"

"'—and the ancient struggle is set in motion—'" Tygra continued, recalling the verse from a passage in the Book of Omens.

"'—only what seems impossible can stop the inevitable,'" the pair finished in unison.

Chilla frowned as the two of them recited riddles about the end of the world as though they had not been at one another's throats moments ago. "What are you talking about?"

"The end of our worlds, ice witch." Snoelle narrowed her eyes at the icewalker. "Some force has set us all up to annihilate one another in this battle so that prophecy will come true." A grave look filled her feline eyes as she turned toward Tygra. "Some of the past became the present when you all freed me on the ice moon."

Frostor nodded to Chilla. "And when Psiarik and I were given the MoonSaber on Lixuvekh, just when you and Luna and the others came back from our past, and by virtue of you being Chillandra's daughter."

"You don't know that for sure!" Chilla snarled angrily.

"And you don't know for sure that you _aren't_ either," Frostor countered. "The point is, the past has already become the present. I told you all back on the ship!"

Chilla lapsed into silence, unable to argue, while Tygra met Frostor's gaze with a comprehending and serious expression. "The ancient struggle… it's already in motion. It's all of us, Thundercat against Lunatac against Mutant. Thundera against Plundarr against the Moons."

"But someone has to recite the Incantation of Destruction for it to happen," Snoelle pointed out. "We Thundercats aren't, and if you Lunatacs aren't, then that leaves the Mutants, and they seem concerned only with their own agenda." She looked over at Ratar-O, still in direct combat with Lion-O and Selene, and saw that Slythe, Jackalman, and Monkian were also fighting. Vultureman was not, but it was clear that the vulture that had come with the other Lunatacs and Thundercats was not spell casting either. "So if none of us, then who?"

"Who else?" hissed Chilla, pointing to a dark and familiar figure on the ridge beyond the Cat's Lair.

"Mumm-Ra!" Tygra let out a low growl of recognition, and then eyed their fighting leaders with a sense of urgency. "We have to stop them."

"As long as the three swords don't clash at once, the incantation can't be invoked," Snoelle said, "but we must stop them now before it happens."

Unfortunately, the four of them never made it to their leaders in time to warn them. Even as they broke into an urgent run, the angry Selene swung the MoonSaber at Lion-O, while the equally emotional Lion-O blocked the slash with the Sword of Omens' mighty blade. As his two foes grappled sword upon sword, Ratar-O saw a chance to disarm them both. Crouching low and then leaping high to gain momentum from his full weight, he brought down the jagged blade of the Sword of Plundarr onto the two other swords. Though they did not break, there was a terrible metallic clash and a sinister flash of lightning as the blades collided.

The three ancient swords had met. Grinning malevolently, Mumm-Ra began to recite the final verse of the Incantation of Destruction.


	9. The Battle - Part Three

When the swords clashed, Psiarik grimaced in tandem with the crack of thunder that followed the act. Just like his dream, he was too late. The swords had met, and lightning crashed as the cloaked figure—_where was the other one_, he wondered, _weren't there two in all his dreams?_—chanted the ancient spell to invoke their end. The three rulers gasped in shock as the swords grew hot in their hands. The blades began to writhe and pulse with power, and their holders' life energy coursed from their bodies into the ancient weapons.

"No, stop!" Psiarik shouted again, his voice unnoticeable over the roar of the supernatural storm. The terrible wind that picked up around him, WilyKit, and WilyKat impeded all their movements and muffled the twins' equally fruitless calls to Lion-O. Alluro and Vultureman were only a few steps behind them, and they fared no better in getting closer to the center of the apocalyptic chaos.

The ground then shook with a terrible earthquake that reminded Psiarik of the day his family had perished in the Thundera explosion disasters. He and the others with him were knocked to the ground, and he found himself suddenly unable to move and overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness. "No," he groaned, "not again."

"Oh yes, again," Torlei's voice mocked from above them. They looked up and saw her in the air, levitated in flight the same way Mumm-Ra's powers allowed him to. "You didn't really think you could stop it, did you?"

"You!" WilyKat growled contemptuously.

"Yes, that little earthquake was my doing," she boasted. "Being an immortal witch and a telekinetic gives me more power than you could comprehend, Thundercat." She blasted her fallen foes with a second wave of telekinetic energy, and then focused her attention on the one she detested the most. "Well well well. I should've known you'd show up, brother dear. You never liked missing out on the action, did you? Well you've got it. I'm going to repay you in spades for what you did to me—you and Luna and the others."

Psiarik turned his head to Alluro, unable to manage more of a move than that under the pressure of her telekinetic force field. "You know her, Dad?"

Alluro could not bear to look at Torlei as she had been twisted by Mumm-Ra, and closed his eyes. "Meet your aunt, Psiarik," he said with a grimace.

"'Dad' is it now?" Torlei cackled as she looked from Alluro to Psiarik, a twisted grin on her face and a cruel glow in her red eyes. "So this is the bastard I heard about. Your little parting gift for that airhead whore Lurella that you duped into loving you as much as you loved her family's titles and wealth."

"Shut your mouth, you undead bitch!" Psiarik growled.

Torlei glowered and shot him with a blast of stinging energy, making his next growl one of pain more than fury. "I must say, Alluro, you haven't done well with teaching your boy manners. How disrespectful," she sneered. "Hmm, though on second thought I can't blame _that _on you since you weren't there, so it must be the silly slut's doing. I suppose bastards don't rate the good nannies even in rich families."

Scowling and in spite of the pain he was already in, Psiarik yelled back at her, "I said shut up about my mother!"

"And I say 'make me,' dear nephew," Torlei sneered back at him. "But seeing as you can't, your blathering is as unimportant and meaningless to me as his." She shot Alluro with a blast of burning energy that time to drive her point home.

"Everything is meaningless to you," WilyKat said coldly.

WilyKit glared up at her as well. "Everything except your and Mumm-Ra's insane plan to destroy three entire civilizations in the name of revenge."

"Oh, give it up, Thundercats!" the unimpressed Torlei taunted back. "The swords have already met and Mumm-Ra's finishing the Incantation of Destruction as we speak. It's inevitable! Do you hear me? _Inevitable!_"

* * *

Aside from Tygra, Snoelle, Chilla, and Frostor, no one else on the battlefield heard Torlei's maniacal screaming. Turning toward its source they saw her hovering above the twins, Alluro, Psiarik, and Vultureman, and both Chilla and Tygra recognized the undead Lunatac's distant figure at once. "'Inevitable', now even she's screaming about that damn prophecy," Chilla muttered.

"If we could just figure out what the 'impossible' is, we might have a chance at stopping it." As he spoke, Frostor found himself unable to tear his eyes away from the ominous sight of the three swords now bound together in magic and their holders to them.

"But if it's impossible, what is it, and how could we do it anyway?" said Chilla with a frosty breath that matched her anxious tone.

Snoelle shook her head. "I don't know, but I do know we haven't much time to piece it together." She looked at the black clouds occluding the sky above, alive with the malevolent lighting of dark forces at work. "The ethers are rending and I can feel the energies of the crossroads to the astral all around. It's unnatural and it's only getting worse."

"I have a thought," Tygra said suddenly, and grabbed Frostor's arm to get his attention. "What about the Incantation of Peace? Since the swords have already met…"

Frostor blinked, and then let out a dark chuckle at the irony of the tiger's solution. "Hah! Yes, you're right, Thundercat. The answer was in front of our faces the whole time."

"The answer is peace? Among all of us, forever?" Chilla repeated in disbelief. "Now that _is_ impossible!"

"And precisely why it's the answer," Frostor said. "There are only two paths that can be taken now, and the only thing that could possibly override the Incantation of Destruction once invoked would be the Incantation of Peace." He eyed the cosmic unrest brewing around them and the enraged faces of their three leaders as the swords pulled and twisted together. "But we can't do it; it can only be done by those doing fighting the battle."

"Why not?" asked Chilla. "If Mumm-Ra can cause the destruction, why can't someone else do the spell of peace?"

Snoelle eyed the chanting figure of the demon sorcerer in the distance, his arms stretched to the stormy heavens as he finished the final words of the incantation. "A dark mage can twist metaphysical rules to suit his needs. We don't have that advantage."

"But conversely, since these ancient spells were meant to be invoked by one of the sword holders, if they were to work together and recite the Incantation of Peace, they could override his destructive power with that magic," Tygra theorized. "It's our only hope."

Ever the pragmatist, Chilla pointed out the next stumbling block in their plan. "And how do we get through to them when they can't hear us?" She frowned. "I can barely hear all of you over this wind and everyone else fighting, and you're standing right here!" She gestured to the remaining Thundercats, Mutants, and Lunatacs who had taken no notice of the fact that the four of them had stopped fighting. It was as though some force was locking them into their aggression, preventing them from seeing past it, and only those that had seen the fight for what it was had avoided being drawn back in.

"I have an idea," Tygra said. "Mumm-Ra seems to like using illusions to do his dirty work, so let's see how he likes a taste of his own medicine. If we flush him out, maybe that'll make them see for themselves how they've been set up and do what needs to be done."

Gripping her spear tightly, Snoelle turned her gaze briefly toward where Panthro grappled with TugMug. The two were in a brawl that had damaged both of their weapons and left them at the mercy of each other's great strength. _Stay strong, my heroic panther, and hang in there, _she thought with renewed resolve and affection, and guarded Tygra's flank. "I've got your back, Tygra. We'll protect you while you concentrate."

Raising his arm in a defensive stance at Tygra's other side, Frostor gave his silent agreement while Tygra closed his eyes and began to concentrate.

Chilla let out a resigned sigh. "Unbelievable. An alliance of peace with the Thundercats and Mutants and we're _asking _for it."

"As Selene so wisely put it back when we first found the MoonSaber, 'it's better than the alternative—dying together,'" Frostor said.

"Yes, you're right," she said with a frosty hiss. "But I don't have to like it."

"That I'm right, or that we'll be at peace forever if this works?"

"Both," she admitted.

Closing his eyes, Tygra sought to clear his mind of all distractions and focused. He envisioned Mumm-Ra, and projected that thought with all of his energy into the skies above. The illusion was frightening, Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living in his full and angry glory alive with burning red rage against the storm-filled sky above. "Fools!" the false Mumm-Ra's deep voice boomed, echoing across the plain. "Now you will all die and leave your miserable worlds to bow before the power of Mumm-Ra!"

The distraction worked, although the first to react was not Lion-O, Selene, or Ratar-O, but Mumm-Ra's angry bride. Torlei rose into the sky above the battlefield in an absolute fury. "You overconfident, arrogant idiot!" she howled. "What are you doing?"

The real Mumm-Ra was only a half a second behind her, also enraged and deeply offended at Tygra's facsimile. "Who _dares_ to imitate the mighty Mumm-Ra?"

The moment Mumm-Ra showed himself, Tygra let the illusion drop, exposing the two outraged evil ever-livings to everyone on the battlefield, including the three who needed to see them most. Lion-O, Selene, and Ratar-O all froze in place, the anger in their faces replaced by shock even as the swords in the process of completing the spell Mumm-Ra had cast drained them of their vitality.

"Mumm-Ra!" Lion-O was the first of them to speak. "I should've known."

"Yes, Lion-O, but you always were a slow learner," Mumm-Ra taunted back at him, recovering from the indignation of being unveiled before he had been ready. "And you discovered me too late. The Incantation of Destruction has been invoked. You will all be dead soon." He cackled. "How does it feel to have your own precious Eye of Thundera turned against you, stealing your very life and seeking to obliterate your world?"

Ratar-O tried to break free of the Sword of Plundarr's hold, but it held him fast, and struggling only weakened him more. "Curse you, Mumm-Ra! You promised me victory!"

Mumm-Ra's response was to laugh at him along with Torlei. "I lied, Ratar-O. The only victory here will be ours!"

"We'll see about that," Lion-O growled. When he realized he could not let go of the Sword of Omens, he instead used what strength he had left to thrust himself backwards, and the white-hot sword came apart from the others along with him, although it remained fast to his hand. Selene and Ratar-O in turn fell back as well, their swords still aglow, the blades shifting like quicksilver as they sought one another out to complete the magic destiny they had been summoned to.

Torlei laughed at his attempt to stop the inevitable. "It's too late, Thundercat. The spell has been cast and tearing your swords apart won't change anything. The more they drain your life, the more powerful they become, and they'll rejoin in spite of it. Enjoy your last few moments of life, Lion-O. Go to your death knowing that you brought it and the destruction of your world on yourself."

"Just like Jaga," Mumm-Ra added with a vicious and knowing smile.

The Sword of Omens began to pull back toward the other two swords, and he, like Ratar-O and Selene also did, tried to hold his ground and keep them from merging. The ground beneath them began to quake and lightning struck the field all around. Gritting his teeth, Lion-O saw Tygra and Snoelle with Chilla and the Lunatac Governor General. "Peace!" Tygra hollered over the roar of the wind at the top of his lungs. "The Incantation of Peace!"

"Yes," Lion-O breathed in understanding. "It's the only way. Jaga, give me strength." The Thundercat Lord growled with effort and managed to pull the Sword of Omens from its sinister attraction to its sister swords and held it straight above his head.

"Fool!" Mumm-Ra said, and blasted him with a bolt of magical energy. The lion stumbled backwards, grimacing in pain, but kept the strength not to fall. "You think you can possibly defeat me when you're on the brink of destruction yourself? What do you think you'll do that will make any difference now?"

"The one thing you don't expect me to, Mumm-Ra. I won't fight at all." With a roar he shouted, "I, Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats, rightful holder of the Sword of Omens and ruler of New Thundera, hereby use the power in the Eye of Thundera to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" His voice surged with renewed strength as he said the words, and suddenly the searing burn of destruction in the Sword of Omens changed to a pulsing hum of white light as it detached from his hand and rose into the heavens.

"The Incantation of Peace will do you no good. Your naïveté only makes your legacy more of a mockery," Torlei hissed.

Through shuddering weakness and burning pain, Selene heard the exchange between Lion-O and the two ever-livings. Looking upon Mumm-Ra there was no doubt that he was evil incarnate, even if she had not heard plenty of claims to attest to it from those she trusted before that moment. Furthermore he had tricked them all into an unthinkable fate, and although it was Lion-O that swung the blade that killed him, Mumm-Ra's scheme had also cost her her only brother. Even if the welfare of her people had not been at stake, that would have been justification enough to side with the Thundercat regardless of how she felt about him.

"Wrong, Mumm-Ra," Selene yelled, and struggled to hold the MoonSaber aloft as Lion-O had his sword. "Peace and life are always better than death and mindless destruction. There's been enough of that already, and I won't be a party to more of it. I, Selene, Queen of the united kingdom of the Moons of Plundarr, rightful holder of the MoonSaber, hereby use the power within the Crescent of the Moons to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" she cried, and released the MoonSaber into the skies above to join with the Sword of Omens. Both she and Lion-O then turned to Ratar-O, their eyes alive with hope once more.

Mumm-Ra roared in outrage. "So the Lunar Queen has joined you. Without the Mutant Warrior King joining you, your heroics will amount to nothing, and he would sooner die than ally with you!"

"Just how stupid do you think we Mutants are, Mumm-Ra? There's no glory to be had in sacrificing my life to be rid of my enemies when it won't be Mutant-kind that rules in the end. You're the fool if you think I'd listen to a word out of your decayed, rotting hide now!" the angry Ratar-O retorted. "Revolting as an alliance with Thundercats and Lunatacs may be, it's far better than going down in history as the Mutant who let Plundarr fall to the likes of an undead bag of bones!" He thrust the still-burning Sword of Plundarr high into the air. "I, Ratar-O, Mutant Warrior King of Plundarr, rightful holder of the Sword of Plundarr, hereby use the power within the Serpent Eyes of Plundarr to invoke the Incantation of Peace, that our worlds might never be at odds and live in peace and prosperity for all time!" The rat nearly choked on the words as he spoke them, but he managed to get them out nonetheless, and the Mutants' sword joined the one of the Thundercats and the one of the Lunatacs in the sky above. A brilliant bolt of lightning parted the stormy heavens and filled all three blades with new power.

"No!" both Mumm-Ra and Torlei hollered.

"Yes," a hopeful WilyKat countered, finally able to rise to his feet along with the others Torlei had trapped beneath the force field. They all stood to watch, as did the other Thundercats, Mutants, and Lunatacs who had been fighting. Invoking the Incantation of Peace had been enough to break through their blind anger, and rather than continue their scuffles, they rallied around their leaders in a show of support.

The mixed assemblage of spectators watched in awe as the three swords flew higher into the sky and began to meld and combine once more. This time the energy surrounding them was not harsh and destructive, but vibrant and protective. Curling around one another, they met in another flash of light. When it faded they saw one single awe-inspiring blade, too large for any mortal to wield, brilliantly shining against the cloudy sky.

"The mighty sword of lore, weapon of the gods," Frostor breathed in wonder. "I'd believed it was just a legend."

"Legends have a way of becoming reality. We've all found that out firsthand," Snoelle remarked in response.

Now fully forged, the sword of their deities began to glow, and then shot upwards at a speed that would impress a cheetah. Its magical tip sliced a rip into the cosmos itself, exposing shadows of a whole other dimension beyond. The blade then took aim at Mumm-Ra and Torlei and blasted the pair of ever-livings with a beam of pure white light. The unholy pair screamed in agony as it struck and engulfed them, trapped them, and sucked them through the dimensional rift. The portal then sealed as though it had never existed at all, leaving no trace of the wicked beings behind. The mighty sword then flashed through the entire visible spectrum of colors before it exploded in a beautiful and breathtaking flash of light. Each sword, asleep and at peace, floated back to the hand of its keeper, while the earthquakes ceased and the stormy skies cleared to reveal the sparkle of stars and the peaceful glow of Plundarr and its Moons.

"It's over," Lion-O breathed in relief, savoring the essence of tranquility in the air. "It's finally over."

"And we're at peace," Selene added softly.

"Like it or not," Ratar-O finished. The rat's voice held no malice, however, only sarcasm. The drive he had before to eliminate his enemies had evaporated with the negative energy of Mumm-Ra's spell.

Facing Selene with a somber look, Lion-O searched for the appropriate words to convey his regret at what had happened before Mumm-Ra had been stopped. "I know words can't make it up… but I want you to know that I'm truly sorry about your brother."

Selene's eyes lingered on Silvian's still form for a moment. "I know." She turned to meet the lion's gaze. "I don't blame you. I blame Mumm-Ra. We were all manipulated by him, and on Mumm-Ra, his death has already been avenged. I bear you no ill will, Lord of the Thundercats."

Vultureman, who had returned to the ship to retrieve Chet, deposited him in Psiarik's arms and pointed to Lion-O, leaving him to do the diplomacy and explaining. The psi went over to Lion-O and held the cub out. "I was told that he belongs to you."

"Chet!" Lion-O's eyes filled with relief and joy, and he immediately pulled the child into his arms for a big hug.

"You found him!" Cheetara exclaimed, equally ecstatic. She leaned over and kissed Chet's cheek affectionately and smiled at Psiarik. "You found him! Thank you, Lunatac," she said with heartfelt sincerity.

Selene meanwhile beamed and hugged her husband. "I thought I told you to stay at the Tower! You defied my royal order," she berated playfully, even as she leaned up to meet him and he bent down at the same time to give her a kiss.

"He needed my help," he said, gesturing in Chet's direction. "And you ought to know that I don't listen. How many times have you complained about me stealing the covers? Besides, someone," he gave Alluro a knowing smile, "told me that women like to be rescued because it feeds their egos. I thought maybe you needed a little ego boost."

Selene's smile broadened as she leaned her head against his torso. "You jerk. How dare you be right?"

"I am sorry about Silvian," he went on to say, his tone growing somber. "You know that for as much as he and I liked to argue, he was still like a brother to me too."

"I know," Selene whispered back, and fell into silence along with him as they took solace and comfort in each other's embrace.

Cheetara, meanwhile, continued to fawn over Chet. "Sweetie, I was so worried about you!" she gushed, just as Snarf, Snarfer, and Pumari joined them. From the Lair where they had held the fort, they had also anxiously watched the battle's progress. Once it had become clear that Mumm-Ra was defeated, they wasted no time in coming out to join their friends. Snarf pulled young Chet into another bear hug as soon as Cheetara was willing to let him go.

WilyKat eyed the reunion with warm amusement. "This is one of those 'mushy' moments that Chet will look on with complete embarrassment in a few years."

Alluro also watched the exchange amongst the Thundercats, and found himself wondering what his own son had looked like at such an age. He felt a pang of regret at not having had the chance to do so.

"Hey, what's with you?" WilyKit asked the hypnotist, noticing his wistful expression. "We _did_ just win, you know."

"I know," he said with a nod, back in reality. "I was just thinking."

"Well don't strain yourself," quipped Luna as she and Amok joined his side.

"And to think things were going well," Alluro replied with a roll of his eyes.

If Luna heard his remark, she chose not to grace it with a response. "Do you see that?" She pointed to Selene and Psiarik, where the first of the two had just been scooped up into the arms of the other in a dramatic sweep. Psiarik then gave his wife a passionate kiss, making her giggle afterward, which in turn led Luna to shake her head. "Your son is making Selene make an utter fool of herself. Is that any dignified way for the queen of the Moons to act?"

Alluro chortled. "You, of course, being an expert on such matters."

Overhearing their brief exchange, Frostor joined them. Chilla, TugMug, and RedEye were only a few steps behind him. "Personally," Frostor said, giving Luna an amused look, "I think our dear Luna is jealous that no one gave her a celebratory kiss."

"What?" the tiny Lunatac squawked. "Who do you think—?"

Before she could continue her rant, a grinning Frostor leaned over and planted a frosty smooch squarely on her lips, leaving a trace of ice crystals on them. Luna shivered and glowered in embarrassment, but also shock and if she was honest, a bit flattered. Frostor, meanwhile, chuckled. "Think about that, dear Luna."

"Amazing!" TugMug exclaimed. "Frostor's managed to do something no one has ever done before."

"Kiss Luna and survive?" RedEye laughed. Chilla and Alluro's laughter mixed in with the darkling's, and even Amok contributed a few snickers at Luna's expense, while Luna only glared at RedEye and TugMug shook his head, also snickering.

"Not that, although you probably do have a point!" TugMug bounced up and down once. "But I was going to say that he actually managed to get her to shut up for a minute!"

That time all of the Lunatacs that knew and traveled with Luna for so long, save Amok, burst into hysterics along with Frostor. Luna was rather displeased to hear another snicker from her mount, and she noted from the grins on Selene and Psiarik's faces, who had joined them, that they also found humor in TugMug's remark. "This isn't funny!" the indignant Luna shrieked.

Selene attempted to force a serious expression. "I'm sorry Aunt Luna, but… well, the expression on your face is priceless!" Her attempt then failed altogether as she giggled again.

Luna scowled. "Augh!"

"If you ask me, I think Luna has a thing for Frostor," Alluro pointed out, much to the amusement of the others.

"Well no one asked you!" retorted Luna. "And besides, even if such a thing were true, at least I would only have been arguing the matter for a few minutes, unlike certain other parties I could mention that deny their attraction to one another on a regular basis." She shot both Alluro and Chilla pointed looks.

That time TugMug snickered at the expense of different Lunatacs. "Gee, I wonder who they're talking about," he said sarcastically.

Psiarik nudged Alluro in the side, catching him and Chilla exchanging awkward looks. "Go for it, Dad."

The younger psi's "helpful" suggestion only made the moment more intense, for while Luna's remark bordered on social impropriety, it was accurate, and irritatingly so to the psi and icewalker it pertained to. Alluro and Chilla looked at one another, and Alluro decided to make the impulsive move to humor the others, and, if the truth were to be told, find out what Chilla's reaction would be to such a thing. The volatile ice woman was in a fairly good mood, with them having just survived a near end of their worlds, after all. "Why not?" the hypnotist said with a charming smile, and drew Chilla into his arms for a kiss. He was pleased when she not only did not push him away, but returned the gesture.

The celebration had begun.

* * *

From where she stood several feet away, Pumyra let out a bemused laugh. "Well, look at that! The Lunatacs are all getting affectionate over there! Who ever thought we'd see that happen?"

"I don't know, but I can agree with their sentiment though," Panthro said with a knowing grin, and kissed Snoelle, while Pumyra mumbled something about missing Bengali.

Pumari made a face, as watching the adults get kissy-faced was not anything she wanted to see. Just as WilyKat said Chet would one day, she already considered such "mushy" stuff rather icky.

WilyKat noticed, and could not resist the urge to tease the cub a little. "Aw, don't worry Pumari. Someday a guy will want to kiss you like that too."

"No way!"

"Oh yes," WilyKit agreed with her brother, amused by her vehement denial. "And I'm sure you'll want him to."

"Nuh-unh!" Pumari was quite emphatic as she shook her head.

Holding Chet in one arm with his other around Cheetara, Lion-O chuckled lightly. "Hey now, let's give Pumari a break." He smiled at the twins. "By the way, WilyKat, it's about time you showed up from Third Earth. I'm glad you two were all right. Cheetara told us about what happened, and why WilyKit left to look for you." He held Chet a little tighter, thinking about his young son's role in it all. "What happened?"

"You know how Mumm-Ra was using illusions?" said WilyKat, and when Lion-O nodded, he continued. "He wasn't the only one. Torlei used one on me. She made herself look and sound just like WilyKit, like she was sending me some psychic message that she was in trouble. I guess I should've known something was off since we've never had a connection like that before, just hunches and feelings." WilyKit nodded along with her brother while he finished. "Anyway, I landed and since like everyone else, I thought Mumm-Ra was gone, I didn't think twice about going in to look for her. I thought maybe some new entity had moved in, and it seemed and felt so urgent, I really didn't think it through." He sighed. "Kinda stupid. I played right into her hands."

"Not stupid; loyal and caring," WilyKit asserted, putting an arm around her brother's shoulders. "And I wasn't much better. I went in there off of Chet's hunch and got myself captured too. We've all learned a few lessons from this, I think."

WilyKat nodded. "Number one, never let your guard down, and don't count your ever-livings dead when they're not." He glanced at the sky where Mumm-Ra and Torlei had been forced through the cosmic gate. "Though hopefully wherever they are, they're far from here for good."

"And number two," WilyKit said with a nod in the Lunatacs' direction, "even your enemies can surprise you. It was them—Psiarik, Alluro, and Vultureman—that saved us."

"Though I'm not _so_ sure Alluro or Vultureman would've gone along with it without Psiarik pushing the issue," WilyKat admitted.

Cheetara eyed the twins curiously. "So why were they there? They came to free you?"

"To free Chet actually," said WilyKat. "Psiarik is an empathic Lunatac. He felt Chet's cry for help. I guess he was projecting it with the kind of powers he inherited from you."

The cheetah smiled and tousled the cub's mop of red hair with affection. "A hero before he can even talk in full sentences. Now that's something to be proud of, not that we didn't have enough already."

Snarf bounced up on his tail. "Amazing. This old snarf can hardly believe it, but this whole ordeal actually makes me think that Lunatacs and Mutants can be—dare I say it, snarf snarf—not that bad? Civilized? Decent?"

Panthro let out a hearty laugh at that. "Now there's something, before today, I would've definitely called impossible!"

"More or less impossible than surviving in magical ice for fifty years?" Snoelle queried wryly.

"More," the remainder of the Thundercats and the two snarfs echoed in unison, leading the Thundercats into another round of light laughter.

* * *

Monkian's face twisted in disgust as he watched first the Lunatacs, then the Thundercats, engage in shameless displays of affection. "Hoo, can't they all go and get rooms or something?"

"Let them ssssuck face. At least they got rid of the one that ssssucks the most, that double crossing bag of bones!" Slythe said, waving his scaled hand dismissively in their direction.

Bored with the exchanges amongst the Lunatacs and curious about his old allies, Vultureman came over and greeted them. "Caw! Well if it isn't some of my old pals from Castle Plundarr!" He nodded to Ratar-O. "And you too; I'm amazed to see you off of Plundarr these days, mighty Ratar-O."

"Flattery won't get you a job, buzzard," Ratar-O said with a twitch of his whiskers. "Especially after telling everyone that the Lunatacs pay better."

Vultureman stuck his neck into the air haughtily and folded his arms. "Not _my_ fault that it's true. Now if you wanted to prove me wrong…"

Ratar-O raised an eyebrow. "And rile up old Zarubz?" he countered, naming a prominent leader of the avian Mutant clan and their liaison on his council. "Sorry, Vultureman, not without something that will really impress me to show off to your fellow turkeys."

"Caw, well anyway," the vulture said, abruptly changing the subject, "I'm sure you enjoyed watching Mumm-Ra get his after so long, especially with what he tried to pull."

"Yessss," agreed Slythe. "The only way it could've been better would've been if we'd gotten to watch him and that Lunatac witch he took up with burn to asssshes and decay to nothing right in front of our eyes once and for all." The reptilian looked up at the sky where the undead pair had been banished through the rift. "But at least they're gone and won't be jerking ussss around ever again."

Jackalman, who had been quiet throughout the exchange, nodded in agreement. "Nyah, Ratar-O here is much better to take orders from."

"Thank you, but sucking up won't get you a raise either," the rat replied. He twirled the inert Sword of Plundarr and re-sheathed it on his belt. "Now I don't know about the rest of you, but personally, I'd like to go home. Just because I don't want to conquer the Thunderians anymore doesn't mean I want to be their best friends." The words felt strange even as he said them, but they were true. He did not want to attack or fight the Thunderians, or the Lunatacs for that matter, any longer. The Incantation of Peace and his participation in it had left him feeling like the three factions were meant to work together, in unity, rather than be at odds.

Monkian nodded his agreement. "Let's head home then."

"We shall, but first there are a few things I want to make clear to our new allies. There's no better time to start this policy of diplomacy than the present." The rat then strode out to where they had been fighting only a short while ago and called for both Lion-O and Selene's attention. A hush fell over the entire crowd at Ratar-O's shout, and the other two leaders joined him in short order while the others gathered around to listen. "Before we Mutants return to Plundarr, I want the status of our new alliance spelled out in clear terms."

"Of course, Ratar-O," Lion-O said. "As far as the Thundercats are concerned, New Thundera is at peace with Plundarr and its Moons. We will let your people be as long as you let ours be. As soon as reasonably possible, I'll pass the word on to the people of New Thundera that a new and unbreakable treaty of peace has been forged, and that anyone guilty of harassing any Mutant or Lunatac traders, merchants, or visitors here on peaceful terms will answer for it under Thundercat law." He looked to Ratar-O and Selene. "If this is agreeable to the two of you, I would like to formally ask the same courtesy to be extended to any Thunderian on your worlds." The lion paused, and then added, "And that any Thunderian slaves you have that wish to be freed and come home be allowed to do so. I would pass the same law, but slavery is outlawed on all of New Thundera."

"Assuming favorable trade agreements can be reached to offset an economic impact, I can agree to such terms," Ratar-O said, and then looked to Selene. "And you, woman, do you agree to this, and to order your people to free any Mutant slaves they have as well?"

"My title is 'queen' in case you were not aware, Mutant Warrior King Ratar-O," Selene corrected him gently.

"Apologies, your majesty. Mutant culture is different than Lunatac and Thunderian. It'll take getting used to," Ratar-O replied to the Lunatac ruler in a respectful tone.

Selene smiled back politely at the Mutant. "Accepted; both the apology and your terms. I'm sure our representatives can work out a fair negotiation amongst all the worlds. Under the new terms of peace, slavery of Thunderians and Mutants will be outlawed."

Ratar-O gave a nod of consent and then looked back at Lion-O. "Since we're extending that courtesy, I'm sure it won't be an issue to insist that in return, no Thundercats or Thunderians will interfere with the legal slave trade businesses on our worlds?"

Lion-O drew a sharp breath, unsure of how to respond, while Selene added to Ratar-O's statement. "That would be agreeable to us as well, Lord Lion-O. We will let any Thunderians and Mutants go as long as you agree to not use your Code of Thundera to impose on our own laws and social mores as long as they don't interfere with your world."

The very notion of slavery went against Lion-O's Thundercat moral grain, but he supposed that his new allies felt that his requests of them put a strain on what they felt was acceptable as well. Compromise would be a part of peace, he supposed, and as long as his primary responsibility—the people of New Thundera—were safe, he could seek diplomatic ways to solve such issues at a later time. "Very well. Such terms are fair, and I accept them and agree to abide by them. No Thundercat or Thunderian will act against them without reprisal."

"It's agreed then. From here forward, we will act as allies, and these swords will be used only to defend our worlds from others. We will not fight amongst ourselves any longer."

"The swords are to be used against outside or common threats only," Ratar-O agreed.

Lion-O extended his hand for the other two to shake, and as they did, he sealed the agreement. "And so it shall be."

Watching the scene with a sense of bemusement, Luna shook her head. "I've never dealt with a Thundercat or Mutant on such terms before. How will this work? What happens now?"

Lion-O faced his former foe from days past. "We get on with our lives, Luna. We move on."

"So let's go home and do just that," Psiarik suggested, and murmurs of assent went through the crowd of Lunatacs with him. Vultureman said his goodbyes to his former Mutant comrades and left with the Lunatacs once more, while the rest of the Lunatacs aside from Luna and Amok went back to their ships. Those two stayed long enough for Amok to recover Silvian's body and carry it back to the ship, and once they were inside, they took off. The Mutants followed suit, and the former warring factions flew to their home worlds with much to think about and reflect upon.

They were not the only ones. The Thundercats watched their new allies, once their enemies, leave in a contemplative sort of wonder. "Peace, Thundercats," Lion-O said as their ships vanished amongst the stars above. "After countless years of war with Plundarr and its Moons, we finally have true peace with them." He held out his hand, and the other Thundercats laid their hands upon it one by one, a call to follow him and the Code of Thundera.

"Thundercats, Ho!"


	10. Epilogue

Far, far away, across the mists of space and time itself, the weak and battle-worn red cloaked figure opened his eyes. Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living could tell that he had been weakened, but he was not dead. He was still alive, and not in the afterlife. _They couldn't destroy me_, he smugly thought as an evil smirk spread across his grotesque face. _All three of those wretched swords combined their powers and they still couldn't destroy Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living Source of Evil!_ Mumm-Ra then looked around, wherever it was that he was, to see if his bride had also survived. Her form, wraithlike and transparent as she was now little more than a spirit, rested nearby unconscious.

Mumm-Ra would not have admitted it, but he was pleased to see that she survived as well. Although he did not particularly like her, she was bound to him, and he was glad to have familiar company in the new realm they found themselves in. It dismayed him that Ma-Mutt was nowhere to be seen, but his demonic dog had not been at the battle, either, and he hoped that once his powers had time to rebuild that he could summon his faithful familiar to his side once more.

_And where would I be summoning my putrid pooch to, anyway? _Mumm-Ra wondered as he assessed his surroundings. The bleak and rocky ground was nothing like any landscape he had seen in his thousands of years on First, Second, and Third Earth, or on New Thundera. The stormy sky above him seemed like one that was perpetually so rather than just as a phase of weather, and he saw little in the way of wildlife, plant or animal. The only sign of life that he saw was a twisted fortress in the distance that radiated an aura of power, pain, and evil.

The sound of a tired feminine groan next to him distracted him, and Mumm-Ra saw Torlei sit up slowly. She reached for her forehead, as though it hurt, only to find that it was insubstantial, and her crimson eyes widened in alarm. "My body…"

"It's gone," Mumm-Ra said. "Be glad that you were powerful enough that your spirit could withstand the power of the mighty sword."

She came to his side, drifting more so than walking, as she got used to her new and strange state. "Does that disappoint you?"

"Would it make you insufferably annoying if I said no?" Mumm-Ra responded with more than a slight bit of sarcasm.

Torlei sneered back at him. "Charming as ever, even after a painfully sound defeat." She looked at their surroundings and frowned. She knew they were not anywhere on New Thundera, the Plundarrian Moons, or Third Earth. "Where are we?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." He pointed to the evil structure in the distance. "But I suggest we find out, and start here. It is a place of great evil, and perhaps we will find something of use to us there." Torlei gave a nod of agreement, and the two of them closed their eyes to focus what remained of their dark powers to find the most powerful nexus of evil energy, and then teleported themselves there.

They materialized in what appeared to be a laboratory of some sort, although entirely alien in design to them. An altar, also foreign in structural particulars but that bore symbols familiar to them both as disciples of the Ancient Spirits of Evil, was in the chamber. Before it stood a figure in a brown hooded robe chanting in a foreign tongue what the two undead beings immediately recognized as a spell calling to the same masters they served. A moment later, the figure straightened and turned to face them. She—at least they presumed it was female by the pitch of her voice and the contours of her face—had bright yellow eyes lacking pupils upon a hideous face of dark bluish-green warty skin and a twisted smile that showed fangs. They knew instantly that she was a witch of the Ancient Spirits of Evil. "You've come," she said in a shrill voice that reminded them both of Luna, not a pleasant reminder or comparison, accurate as it was. "The Ancient Ones have granted my plea to provide me with lesser evil spirits to assist me in my endeavors."

Both Mumm-Ra and Torlei grimaced at being called "lesser evil spirits" but given their current state and lack of power after their defeat, they supposed that was how they looked and appeared to one who had not known them in their glory, and certainly an apt statement if they were being compared to the Ancient Spirits of Evil themselves. "You have summoned us here?" Mumm-Ra questioned the witch. "Why?"

"I prayed to the Ancient Ones that they would send me a supernatural advisor, one that can make my magnificent creations of robot and machine be more effective against the mighty robot that stands in the way of my king's, and our empire's, victory against them. I prayed for the guidance and they answered in the flames of my altar fire that ever-living beings would be sent to my side to assist, from some other time and some other part of the universe. Are you them?"

"So this is payback for our failure," Torlei grumbled. "They guided us here rather than let the wretched magic sword destroy us. I suppose we should be thankful, although being a glorified servant is hardly something to relish."

"Indeed, but we must bide our time and do as they wish for us to regain our strength," Mumm-Ra replied, and then answered the witch. "You have asked for help, and we have been sent to aid you. We can provide that, but tell me, witch, what can we expect in return for your service? Anyone who knows the ways of our masters knows that none of us does something for nothing."

The hooded witch cackled. "Simple. If you do your job well enough, the Ancients displeased enough to send such powerful souls as yours to my aid will consider the insult atoned for. In short, you're working for brownie points," she said, and picked up the blue cat that weaved about her feet. "So what do you say, Mumm-Ra, Torlei? Do we have a deal?"

"You know our names?" a surprised Torlei said.

Nodding, the witch said, "The Ancient ones have told me all about you and your mishaps on the realm of New Thundera. Perhaps once you aid me, I can help you return to seek revenge in a time not long after you left. From what I've heard, you must be aching for it." She scratched her cat behind the ears. "Funny, felines giving you such trouble. I'm rather fond of my kitty."

Mumm-Ra grimaced at the sarcasm in her tone, but chose to bite his tongue for the time being. Exchanging looks with Torlei and seeing that she was of a similar mindset as he, that for a time their "helper" role might not be so bad, he smiled back at the one they had been sent to assist. As an ever-living, he had all the time in the universe to have his revenge, and considering his and his bride's dire straits, what did they truly have to lose? Mumm-Ra smiled at the robed figure before him. "My dear witch, you've got yourself a deal."

**The End**


End file.
